


The Avenger’s Soul

by Childhood_Dreams



Category: Agents of SHIELD - Fandom, Avengers, Soulmarks - Fandom, Soulwords - Fandom, soulmates - Fandom
Genre: Agentsofshield - Freeform, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Avenger Loki (Marvel), Avengers - Freeform, Avengers Family, Avengers Tower, Bucky Barnes Recovering, F/F, F/M, Hulk - Freeform, Multi, Natasha Romanov Is Not A Robot, Possessive Thor (Marvel), Protective Clint Barton, Protective Steve Rogers, Protective Tony Stark, Romantic Soulmates, Soulmarks, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, Soulwords, Tony Stark Has A Heart, blackwidow, captainamerica - Freeform, ironman - Freeform, norsegods - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-04
Updated: 2019-09-27
Packaged: 2019-11-12 01:03:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 29
Words: 98,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18000848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Childhood_Dreams/pseuds/Childhood_Dreams
Summary: Billy doesn't know what her powers are. She has too many to count. She was taken by HYDRA when she was just a little girl and ever since then, they have been experimenting on her and training her alongside the Winter Soldier. In a world where everyone is marked by the first words their soulmate(s) will say, will she ever find hers when she never got the chance to read hers and doesn't even think she has one; let alone more than one? And when she does, will she finally find a home? AU where events happen in a mashed up order. Been reading a lot of soulmark fanfic lately so





	1. Author’s Note

AN - The "Team" gets kidnapped by Hydra and Billy manages to save them; putting her in Fury's line of sight for when he recruits the Avengers to fight against Loki. Hope it makes sense! If not just let me know! I unfortunately have yet to get around to watching all the movies and I haven't read any of the comics. I will obviously do some catching up as I continue through the story but just wanted to make it clear that there may not be consistencies etc in the story line/plot.


	2. Escape Attempt #9

Billy's POV

I woke up like I always do. In the dark...in a cell...all alone...or so I thought. 

As my sight adjusted to the dim lighting of my "bedroom" I became aware of the fact that my face was barely centimeters away from someone else's. I was staring into the most beautiful blue eyes and I couldn't tear mine away from them. The brilliantly blue eyes stood out in stark contrast to the colorless walls around me. They were unlike anything I had ever seen. In the haze of wakefulness, I couldn't stop my traitorous mouth from revealing this fact.

"I've never met anyone with blue eyes before!" I said in awe. 

"Well then it is my pleasure to be your first, ma'am."  My eyes widened in shock as my ears heard the sound of sniggering. I can't believe I had just said that! I held my head down as I waited for the blow to land, but it never did.

When I realized this, my brain finally registered what my ears had. There was more than one person in my "room". I paled, that was never a good thing.

"What is your name, ma'am" the man with the insanely blue eyes asked me, his voice almost gentle. Why was he being so formal? And why didn't he know? I thought everyone here knew who I was. I looked at the man more closely. He was wearing some sort of suit that was red, white, and blue and his lip was split. Was he who I thought he was? I had heard a few of my guards talking lately about some man who wore those same colors who had been recently discovered. They talked about him with fear in their voices and as I continued to gaze at the man before me, I began to hope. Stupid, I know...but if this really was who I thought than maybe, just maybe, I could finally get out of here...

I suddenly remembered that he had asked me a question...but how should I answer it? Hydra's name for me only served to remind me of what I was to them...

"...My name is...Billy," I finally said. I could tell I wasn't fooling the man, considering I had just made the name up on the spot but he decided to ignore it, choosing instead to look over his shoulder. As he did so, I caught sight of the woman behind him, who was pressed up against the wall, nursing a broken leg.

"Is that really your hair color?" I blurted out. What is wrong with me!

"Yes, if we manage to get out of here in one piece, I might just be in a good enough mood to let you touch it," the lady responded with a grin. I looked down at my hands, trying to stop myself from thinking about how much I wanted to do just that. Seriously, what is wrong with me...

"Wow, Natasha, I've never known you to let anyone touch your hair. Can I touch it to when we get out of here?" I heard a third voice say. I looked over to see a black haired man who was completely covered in iron. 

"Hell no, Tony! That invitation is for Billy alone." The flame haired women, Natasha, looked over at me when she said my name to confirm she had gotten it right but I just shrugged, barely remembering the name I had told them just minutes ago. 

Then I paused and looked again at the man she had called Tony. Something about the iron was ringing a bell. He must be the one my guards called Iron Man!

"Are you actually made of iron? That's what they told me but I thought they were just messing with me. I mean if you are, how do you stop yourself from getting rusty?" Ok, all  this alone time has definitely made me go bonkers!

"No, I'm not, but I have something even harder, that never gets rusty, if you want to see," Tony said, winking at me. My face turned red. 

"Tony!" Said a fourth person. "Now is not the time for flirting!" I glanced at the person talking. He was fiddling with a bow in his hands and I noticed an empty quiver slung across his back. 

"What's with the bow, I didn't think anyone still did archery?" I asked him, curiosity overpowering my fear. 

"Just something I learned from my time in the circus. I also learned a lot of other useful skills, I can teach you if you'd like," the man said, wiggling his brows at me. I blushed a brilliant shade of red as I heard Tony mumbling, "I thought you said now wasn't the time for flirting!" 

I looked at them all, my hopes rising higher than I had ever let them before. These people; besides being incredibly attractive, could potentially be just the help I needed to finally escape this hell hole...if I could just find a way to get my hands on the key to the cell. 

"So...I told you my name but you haven't told me yours!" I said slowly, looking at the two blonde men.

"Forgive me, ma'am, my name is Steve," said the overly polite man with the pretty blue eyes.

"And I'm Clint," said the other blonde. 

"...what are you guys, sorry, and girl, doing here? And who the hell are you? What's with the outfits?" 

"You mean you don't know who I am?" Said Tony in surprise. He looked hurt and I suddenly found myself feeling bad.

"Sorry!" I cried out apologetically, "it's not like I, ya know, get out much...I'm either in here, the training arena, the lab, or the torture chamber/"love" den as I like to call it, depending on what - what they're...doing to - to me...", my voice trailed off as I saw the stony looks on their faces. "What?! Why are you looking at me like that, did I say something wrong?" I started to panic as I thought back over what I'd said. I mean, I'd said a lot of stupid stuff in the last few minutes - it was hard to choose which statement they had a problem with.

"No, no! You didn't do anything wrong!" Steve hurried to reassure me. 

Before I could say anything else, I heard the loud echoing sounds of footsteps coming down the stairs. I froze, listening carefully and dreading what might happen next. 

I was expecting one of my normal guards, but I didn't recognize the man who was currently unlocking the door. I heard a gasp from behind me and looked back at Steve. Did he recognize this man?

Then I saw a glint of light reflecting off of the steel bars of the cell and my face paled in terror. The stranger's arm was made of metal which meant that he had to be the Winter Soldier I had heard so much about whenever I was being threatened, and or tortured. But thankfully I had never met him. He was supposed to be cold hearted and ruthless, though from what I gathered, it was only because they had wiped his memory and retrained him to be that way. But while he was under their control, he was a major threat to me and I couldn't help but tremble in fear.

"Please, don't hurt me!" I cried, breaking my promise to not stoop so low as to beg for mercy. 

"Don't worry sweet cheeks, I won't bite you, not unless you want me to!" said the Winter Soldier as he hauled me to my feet and dragged me to the door. I shuddered, in fear, though a small part of me got the feeling that he hadn't meant that in the cruel way the guards that normally made similar comments meant when they were having their way with me, but in the same tone as my fellow cellmates. What the fuck is with everyone today...

Not only had I never seen another prisoner other than myself at this base, but everyone was acting almost as if they liked me...it was bizarre. I used my free hand to scratch at one of my scars as I was marched up the stairs. Four or five of them were itching like mad for some reason. 

The Winter Soldier lead me to Rumlow's office and kept a strong hold of me as he made me stand in front of Rumlow's desk.

"You've been performing surprisingly well lately, Angel, and I have had orders from our leader that you are to start training with a more powerful opponent. I called you to my office to let you know that you will start training with the Winter Soldier in the morning." I glanced sideways at the man next to me, not liking the idea of having to spar with a man who's mind and body weren't his own. Something of my defiance must have shown on my face, for the next thing I knew, Rumlow had gotten out of his chair and pounced on me, a sadistic gleam in his eyes that I knew was never a good sign.

"If you try any tricks or yet another escape attempt, I will let the Winter Soldier over here have his turn with you...I've heard he can be quite the savage when it comes to the ladies. I wouldn't want you to be too damaged for your weekly visit with me and the boys," I did my best, but couldn't stop the shiver that ran down my spine as Rumlow leaned in close and licked the length of my neck. 

The only positive thing about this, was that it put me in perfect position to steal his keys that he always kept on one of his belt loops. 

I hastily tucked them out of sight in the pocket of my torn and bloodstained jeans as I was yanked back towards my cell by the Winter Soldier. I held my breath as we approached the stairs that lead down to the basement. This was it, it was now or never.

I yanked out the keys and jabbed them as hard as I could into the Winter Soldier's flesh arm, which was currently wrapped tightly around mine. He let out a silent roar of fury as he let go of my hand. 

I immediately ducked and aimed a kick towards his manly bits. I grinned in satisfaction as I made contact but groaned as I missed the warning flash of silver as he stabbed me with a knife I had somehow managed to miss.

Oh well, it hurt, but it would heal. I ignored the pain in my side and focused on sending bolts of energy down my arms and into my hands, which I then wrapped around the soldier's mechanical one. I leaned back as the arm sent out sparks and worked on pressing my advantage. 15 minutes later, I finally managed to knock the man out and make my way down the stairs, hoping no one had heard the sounds of our fight.

I fit the key into the lock and opened the door with a flourish. 

"Saddle up you weirdos, the Cavalry has arrived!" I said as heroically as I could.

They all stared at me with wide eyes. 

"Don't just stand there gawking! Let's go, let's go, let's go!"   

I waited till all of them but Steve had exited the room, but he refused to leave before me. Why was he acting like we were in the 1940's! Geesh, we didn't have time for gentlemanly manners right now! 

But he was being ridiculously stubborn as he looked at me and waited for me to leave before him...so I finally gave up with a huff and made to exit.

I hadn't taken more than a few steps when the pain I had ignored in my side flared white hot and what with the addition of those scars; which were still burning like mad for some unknown reason, caused me to stumble and cry out quietly. 

Next thing I knew, Steve was sweeping me up in his arms and carrying me up the stairs after the others. I squealed in surprise and looked at him with wide eyes. 

"I can walk on my own, thank you very much," I said angrily, not liking to be touched; let alone, picked up and carried like this.

"I know, sweetheart, but you better get used to me carrying you!" 

I was about to say something snippy back, when I felt a wave of exhaustion pass over me. It must be the stab wound. It took a lot out of me to heal and the Winter Soldier had managed to pierce me quite deep. 

I struggled in Steve's arms, trying to stay awake.

"Sweetie, just relax, you're only going to hurt yourself more," Steve tried to tell me gently as he stayed back and held me protectively while Tony, Natasha, and Clint had it out with several guards. 

I kept struggling though, wanting to do what I could to help them. It was strange, but even though I had just met these people, I had this strong urge to protect them and keep them safe...which I couldn't do if I passed out!

"C-can't sleep yet...p-put me down already! I h-have to, have to help..." I tried to saw through several yawns. But the blackness was too strong and quickly overwhelmed me.

********************************************

In-Line Comments

\- So just to clarify, the bold italicized words are the "soulmate words" but "Billy/Angel" never got to read hers and doesnt know what soulmates are at this point so she doesnt recognize them for what they are, but the Avengers will/do  
\- Also, should I keep her name as Angel or Billy or maybe Rose? (Any other suggestions?) Haven't decided yet other than that she hates the name Angel right now but thinking maybe her soulmates will convince her to like it? Or no?  
\- Also any suggestions for potential powers for her are always welcome! Haven't really decided on that either!  
\- Not sure anyone got it, but the chapter title is a play on "Love Potion Number Nine" since, ya know, everyone is going to love her...yes I know I'm dorky, a little lame, and maybe not as funny as I think!  
\- Comment, like, and share what you thought of this first chapter! Not sure how it turned out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so been trying to reformat the first chapter and it’s taking forever to get it to work properly on my phone since this site reformats the bold and cursive text that I had when I originally posted on Wattpad so I’m going to rewrite the phrases here so that y’all will know what her soulmate words are even thoough she doesn’t:
> 
> Steve - "Well then it is my pleasure to be your first, ma'am." 
> 
> Natasha - "Yes, if we manage to get out of here in one piece, I might just be in a good enough mood to let you touch it,"
> 
> Tony - "No, I'm not, but I have something even harder, that never gets rusty, if you want to see,"
> 
> Clint - "Just something I learned from my time in the circus. I also learned a lot of other useful skills, I can teach you if you'd like,"
> 
> OC to Bucky - "Please, don't hurt me!"
> 
> Bucky - Don't worry sweet cheeks, I won't bite you, not unless you want me to!"


	3. New Life - Take 1

Billy's POV

I woke up with a start to find that I was on a plane of some sort and once again, eyes were on me. I looked around at the shocked faces as I stood up and stretched. My side still burned and my scars were still itching but the blood had stopped and I could tell that the wound had at least closed itself up. 

I straightened up as much as I could to find them all staring at me with various expressions. 

"What?" I said.

"Weirdos?" Said Tony, covering his heart with his hand and feigning being stabbed. It would have been funny if I hadn't been stabbed for real not too long ago.

"The Cavalry is here?" said Natasha, raising her brows.

"Saddle up?" Clint asked, one eyebrow quirked up.

I crossed my arms. "Ok, so maybe I'm not as funny as I think I am, but I've always wanted to say that. I didn't mean to offend anyone...I just heard some of the guards talking about some women called the Cavalry who went to Bahrain and saved a bunch of people and I could tell that she made the guards nervous so I don't know...you have to admit, you all look a little  
weird the way your dressed, then again...what do I know about fashion...stop looking at me like that!"

The stares were unnerving. 

3rd Person POV

Steve, Natasha, Tony, and Clint shared looks with each other as they sat and waited for their newly discovered soulmate to wake up. They couldn't believe the had finally found her. It wasn't until one drunken night that they had realized they all had the same words written on their skin and came to the conclusion that they must share a soulmate. At first, Tony had been reluctant to this idea, not liking the thought of having to share the woman he was born to love with anyone else, but after his time in the middle east, he had decided to work on getting used to the concept of sharing.

As for Natasha and Clint, they had always been close, and did not mind sharing their soulmate between one another. Steve on the other hand, was worried.

He couldn't stop thinking about his new soulmate, but also about his other one. Bucky...he had thought he had died several yeas ago when he himself had gotten buried in a block of ice. But it turns out he was alive...had been brainwashed by HYDRA...and had stabbed the soulmate the two of them were destined to share - for Steve knew that Bucky also had those same words running along his skin as well. They had found out late one afternoon when they had gone skinny dipping as kids. 

He just didn't know how he was supposed to untangle everything. Things were complicated enough when he woke up 70 years in the future! And now he had to save Bucky - and break the news to him that he had attacked one of his soulmates! 

Steve, Tony, Clint, and Natasha all breathed sighs of relief when their soulmate's eyes opened up, but then they remembered the words printed on their skin. They had been wondering how they would end up hearing them, but had never imagined it would be like this.

Billy's POV

"Hey...Hello, Earth to Everyone!" I paused as I finally managed to get everyone's attention, I hadn't really thought about what I was going to say. So I pointed at Natasha.

"I believe I was promised something!" I said instead, trying to ease the tension in the room.  
It worked. Natasha laughed and came over to sit down on the floor in front of me, angling her head so that I could reach it.

I could feel several pairs of eyes on me as I slowly reached out and began to run my hands through her red locks. I blushed as she moaned out loud. I could see Tony out of the corner of my eye.

"You know, I wasn't sure how this would work at first, but I think I could get used to this," he said, watching the two of us with a gleam in his eyes. I laughed as Steve elbowed him hard in the side.

"Sorry, am I hurting you?" I asked Natasha, removing my hands quickly as I started to worry.

"No, no, don't stop!" she hurried to assure me, her face almost as red as her hair. I wrapped my hands back in her hair, enjoying the feel.

"Wow, it's so soft! I wish my hair could be this soft! But they didn't really give me much time to brush it..." I trailed off, not wanting to think about such things at the moment. I was finally free. I was focused on Natasha's hair, so I didn't see the dark looks that were being shared around me.

"So, can you guys drop me off somewhere? You don't have to land or anything, just find an empty space to hover over...Not sure what I'm going to do, but I'm sure I can figure something out!"

"Sorry, dollface, but we need to take you back to New York with us so that Nick can debrief you and get your statement, he'll definitely want to talk to you - and I think we all have questions we'd like answered!" Steve said as gently as he could.

I nodded slowly, not liking the sound of this, but knowing that I didn't have much say right now.

"Well there goes that idea..." I mumbled. 

********************************************

Several long hours later, we had finally landed in New York and I was herded into a small room with a long black mirror and a single metal table and chair. I stood in the corner, waiting for what came next. I used my enhanced sight to see through the mirror and into the room beyond, where Natasha, Steve, Tony, and Clint were all huddled, watching me from the other side of the glass.

I paced back and forth, not comfortable with the size of this room. It made me very nervous, but finally the door opened and a man with a black eyepatch walked in.

He asked me a lot of questions, more than half of which I didn't know the answer to. He asked about me, Hydra, and about the Winter Soldier. I gave him what little information I could; I didn't know very much about myself, other than the name Hydra had given me and what some of my powers were - though I was constantly discovering new ones. 

He must have known we were being watched closely, because when he had finished his questions, he leaned in closer and began to whisper.

"SHIELD could really use someone like you. I know that Tony and the others are going to want to take you with them to Stark Tower, and would hate me for even suggesting it, but I'd love to discuss you joining SHIELD. I am building a specialized mobile unit that you would be welcome to join. The others won't like it, but you could really be an asset in helping bring Hydra down. They will try to dissuade you, but I just wanted you to know that you have options. It's up to you what you do with your life now, no one else's, just remember that."

The man stood up and left the room. Not a minute later, Tony, Steve, Natasha, and Clint entered the room, all talking at once. From what I managed to gather, they wanted me to come with them back to some tower to live with them. 

"Woah, you want me to move in with you? Why? You hardly know me, heck, I barely know me! That's a bit fast!" I said, blinking wide-eyed at them. They frowned at my answer, but slowly nodded in understanding. 

Though I told him it was too much, Tony insisted on getting me set up in an apartment nearby. It took all of a few minutes for him to sign the documents before I was handed a set of keys to my new place. 

I was then dragged to the store along with the others to find furniture and other necessities. I kept trying to tell them it was all too much but they wouldn't hear it. I knew they were trying to do what they thought was best, but it was slightly annoying. I wanted to find my own way in life, not have them hand everything to me on a silver platter!

I point blank refused Tony's offer to set me up with a job at Stark Industries, much to his disappointment. I also refused the phone that he tried to hand me after they had dropped me and the furniture off at the new apartment. 

"But how are we supposed to stay in touch?" He asked, pouting. 

"We don't! Look, I really appreciate everything you are trying to do for me, but it's too much! No offense, but I already told you, we hardly know each other and I don't really want to stay in touch -" I looked around at the hurt looks on everyone's faces. "I don't mean to be rude or anything, I just don't get why it's such a big deal to you all - it's just...I..." for some reason, I couldn't finish my sentence. It was almost painful to look at the disappointment on their faces. 

"It's ok, you don't have to explain yourself. We get it, you need space to get used to your new life...we just wish you'd let us help," Natasha said sadly. 

"I will ask if I need it, ok?" I said, crossing my fingers behind my back. They nodded and filed out of the doorway, their heads down and their shoulders slumped. 

6 Months Later

I sighed heavily as I slid the beer across the counter towards the man sitting in front of me. 

"What's a pretty thing like you doing working at a bar?" He asked, taking a swig of his drink. 

"Paying bills," I said tonelessly. I had spent the last few months finding someone to take over my lease, and used the money I had made from selling the furniture to buy myself a run-down van, which now served as my new residence as well as my mode of transport. I had then hit the streets looking for a job, which is how I had landed up behind the bar at "Nights," one of the local clubs in sunny California.

"What's your name, gorgeous?" The man asked. 

"Skye," I said. I had decided to ditch Billy and legally changed my name to Skye a few months back, liking it better than Billy or Angel. 

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Skye, I'm Grant." 

"And I don't care," I said, turning around to serve my next customer. It was a bit harsher than I would have liked, but I was getting fed up with everyone trying to talk to me.

I think I heard the man; who's name I had already forgotten, mumble something about a big mistake, but I was too busy making a cocktails to pay attention.

He wasn't the first man who had tried to hit on me, and he certainly wouldn't be the last. I guess that was one of the unfortunate side effects of being a female working at a bar. Though why any of the drunks thought I would sleep with them was beyond me. Must be the alcohol addling their brains.

I breathed a sigh of relief as I headed out the door at the end of my shift. Who knew that serving drinks could be so exhausting!

I headed down side streets and back alleys as I made my way towards my van. I had to blink several times to keep my eyes open. Unfortunately, my super hearing was currently out of commission due to the long nights and many hours I had been pulling at work, and I missed the sound of footsteps following.

It wasn't until I found myself being slammed into a dumpster that I realized that my night wasn't over just yet. 

I looked around me blearily, ignoring the pain in my back, to see that I was surrounded by several men in black, their faces covered from view. 

Seriously? This is so not what I need right now! I thought as the men started to advance. I had been trying to stay off the radar as much as possible, knowing that both SHIELD and Tony and his friends were still searching for me. Nick Fury, as I had learned was the name of the man with the eyepatch, was still trying to recruit me and though I wanted to help, I just wasn't ready. And I knew that Tony would have realized by now what I had done and with his knowledge of tech, was constantly scanning everywhere for me. A part of me knew that he would never intentionally hurt me, but I couldn't help but dread what would happen if he and the others ever found me again. If I were them, I would be pretty ticked off - hence why I was so worried.

I did my best to fight the men off, but even with my powers, there were just too many of them. 

I growled as one of them managed to rip my shirt in several places, leaving my arms exposed to the cold night air. I kicked wildly as they managed to drag me to the ground, grabbing a hold of my arms as one of them clambered on top of me and straddled my hips. 

"Ya know, in my day, you had to at least buy a lady a meal and meet her parents before you could so much as hold her hand!"

We all looked up to see who the new arrival was. I wiggled underneath the man on top of me as one of my scars started to burn. Why does that keep happening? Several times a day my scars would randomly start to itch or burn and my mood would shift just as randomly. It was really getting on my nerves!

My thoughts were interrupted as the man above me was suddenly sent flying. And then the next, and the next, until there was a pile of limbs stacked on the other side of the dumpster.

I got to my feet shakily and looked towards the man who had saved me.

"Thanks for the save, but I had everything under control," I said, crossing my arms. I didn't like feeling helpless.

"Sure thing, dollface. I don't doubt you are capable of taking care of yourself, I could see that from the way they had you trapped on the ground," the man said, raising a brow as he looked at me with a voice laced with sarcasm. I glared at him, but paused - I knew someone who liked to call me that...what were the odds of running into someone else who used that nickname though - it wasn't exactly common...but it couldn't be him. He was supposed to be miles away in New York!

I silently thanked the universe for granting me excellent eyesight as I looked the man up and down. My heart froze. He had a metal arm...

I stared at the Winter Soldier standing before me in fear. 

"I'm not going back!" I said stubbornly.

"Back where?" he asked tilting his head to the side.

"Hydra! I'm not going back to them, so you can tell them to shove it!" I hissed. The man's eyes widened.

"How do you know about Hydra?" I blinked, now confused as well. I looked at him more closely and noticed for the first time that his eyes didn't seem to have their normal glazed look. He must have managed to somehow break the control they had over him!

"You don't remember me do you?" I said, slowly stepping towards him. 

"No, should I?" 

"We met a few months back when Hydra had us locked up. We had an...altercation before I managed to escape with a few others. I'm glad to see you were able to get out of there as well!"

He looked at me suddenly with a sudden look of realization.

"It's you!" He leapt over to me and I almost tripped as I stepped back in surprise.

"Huh?" 

"You, your voice, it was what broke their control! It's you! I can't believe I found you! Steve is going to be so happy! We've waited so long to meet you?"

"Oh, you know Steve? Well he was in New York last I heard, if you wanted to meet up with him! But I should be heading off...wait what do you mean, you've been waiting? You knew we were going to meet? What, are you psychic as well or something?" 

"No, of course not, I meant your words, I've...well we, have been waiting years to hear them!" 

I stepped back even further, thinking that they must have caused permanent damage when they had messed with his mind.

"Look, I don't know what weird word nonsense you're talking about but I'm gonna go now. If you see Steve, please don't tell him about this. No point in bothering him or the others with insignificant matters. What with them off doing more important things. Well, see ya!" I said, hastily making my way towards my van which was parked a few blocks away.

"Where are you going, dollface! We need to talk! You can't just -" I heard him shouting after me, but I continued on my way, resisting the urge to look back over my shoulder.

********************************************

In-Line Comments

\- Ok, so dont hate me but I was halfway through the chapter when I decided I really wanted to link Agents of Shield into the story more and decided to make the character a mashed up and different version of Skye's character from the show so that I could add a lot more elements into the story so hopefully you like it!   
\- My OC will obviously deviate from the original Skye (haven't decided if I'll go with the being raised in in the system thing since she was with Hydra so if anyone'd got any ideas on how to work that in and or change it up let me know!) in certain ways regarding her parentage etc so I'll probably write up to the episodes leading to the whole terragenisis stuff from the show but either leave the concept the way it was written or make something different depending on who her parents end up being before getting back into the Avenger events which will then go back to the start of the avengers initiative so just a heads up that I know certain things wont be lining up timeline wise.  
\- As I said, parentage will not be the same as original Skye so if anyone has any ideas for who they could be that would be great! Unless enough people want me to keep that part the same? Dont mind going that route either. If I don't go with the whole Daisy Johnson thing though, then I want it to be someone from Asguard - just obviously not anyone related to Thor or Loki since they are also her soulmates - and since I don't know enough about the Asguardian characters I'm open to suggestion! That or I could go the Greek God/Goddess route? (Thinking Athena/Aphrodite maybe?) Let me know what you think?! I'm not sure if I want to throw in an animal transformation as well maybe dragon or something - again depending on who she ends up being related to - def want her to have wings since she's called angel but not sure if adding an animal form is cliche or makes her seem unrealistically too powerful. Also not sure if one or both of her parents should be evil; assuming people DO want me to change Skye's parents?  
\- I was originally thinking of making her Ward's Sister but then I decided I wanted to keep it with him becoming obsessed with her to create a roadblock for her soulmates and or I COULD go with adopted sister and or unwanted incestyness?   
\- Hopefully that rambling mess made sense! As I keep writing I'm sure it'll just fall together but just wanted to put my current thoughts out there and see what y'all think!


	4. New Life - Take 2

Skye's POV

A few more weeks past and I spent them throwing all my energy into my work so as to distract myself from thoughts of my run-in with the Winter Soldier. Every time I let my mind wander in that direction, I would be bogged down with worry and fear. What if he did go to find Steve and tell him about meeting me, and what if Steve then told Tony and the others?! What if Mr. Bald Eyepatch dude found out about our meeting?

I spent every waking moment paranoid, constantly looking over my shoulder.

And then it all went to pieces...literally. 

The building next to me exploded right as I walked by. Well don't I just have the best luck ever! 

I glanced up as shouts and screams filled my ears. It was clear that there were people trapped in the upper floors of the building, which was slowly going up in flames. Now, any normal person would do the proper thing and run away from the chaos. But I wasn't normal and I certainly didn't run.

No, my kamikaze self decided to fly, and not away from the flames, but right into them. Yup, I'm insane, more of an idiot than those weirdos in their suits...

I used my wings, strength, and speed, to get as many people out as I could. But as I glanced around the room; which was filled with science equipment, I realized there wouldn't be enough time for me to save everyone.

Before I could begin to think of what to do, a window; which had somehow managed to stay in one piece, shattered as a dark skinned man in a hood crashed through and grabbed the nearest person before jumping back out the window. Who the hell is this yahoo?

I shook my head and focused on getting the last two people out safely before the place collapsed. 

I blinked rapidly as I landed in the middle of the street, blinded by the bright flashes of cameras that greeted me. I ducked my head down as I hurried to make my wings disappear before looking around for an escape route. I spotted one and quickly darted off down yet another alley, making sure that no one followed me. 

I sighed in frustration later that night as I watched the news at work and served my customers, all of whom couldn't stop talking about the mysterious new heroes in the city. I was definitely not doing well at staying under the radar! I'd have to leave tonight, or risk someone finding me. It wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the fact that Hydra was still after me...along with Shield...and Tony...and his friends.

I went over to my boss and gave him the bad news before heading back to my van to study maps and plan my new destination.

But there was one more thing I wanted to do. I knew Shield must have information on the man who had helped me during the explosion, so when I had gotten "home", I had hacked into their servers and gathered what information I could before heading off to work. What I had found was heartbreaking. The poor man was raising his 8 year old son all on his own after his wife's recent death - and from the look of things, he wasn't doing so well considering he had just been laid off from work. That didn't seem right. That someone who was willing to help strangers couldn't find any help for himself! So, I gathered up the little money I had saved up over the last few months and put it in an envelope. It was a particularly nice night out - considering it was 3 in the morning, and I wanted to stretch my legs, so I decided to ditch my van and walk instead.

"Are you Mike Peterson?" I asked as the door opened slowly. I already knew the answer, but hey, he didn't need to know I was more stalkerish than he probably already thought - what with me knocking on his door at such an hour!

"Uh, yes?" he said slowly and suspiciously, not that I could blame him!

"Well, I know you don't know me and this might seem a little random, but I was trying to think of a way that I could thank you for helping me out earlier before I leave town. So I just wanted to give you this," I said, sounding like a crazy person as I handed him the envelope. "Don't worry it's not poison or anything! But you helped me and the rest of those strangers without hesitation and I know it isn't much - it was all I had, but I believe that your heroism earlier today should be rewarded, not punished, so...here I am. Like I said, I know its not a lot, but its the best I could do! I figured you could use it to help with the funeral arrangements - my condolences by the way, and the rest to get your son that Hulk action figure I saw him looking at in the store window. Anyways, I'm totally rambling like a lunatic, so I'll be on my way! I said, turning hastily and cursing my blabbering mouth.

"It was you, wasn't it?" Mike said, opening the door wider to look at me better. "The girl with the wings...the one they're calling Angel!" I frowned.

"That's not my name anymore!"

"Then what should I call you?"

"If you must, you can call me Skye, but like I said, I'm leaving tonight before the scary men in dark suits come for me, I'd suggest you do the same. You don't want them darkening you're doorstep, trust me!" and with that, I turned around and headed back to my van.

I had just gotten in and started up the engine when the door suddenly slid open and a bag was tossed over my head. What new hell is this?! Can't I catch a break?

I was lead into a car and then shepherded; with my hands tied and head still covered up, onto what felt like a plane.

My hands were then untied and the hood was roughly removed. 

"Geesh, you people have no bedside manners!" I said under my breath before looking up to see two men.

"You guys are making a big mistake." I warned them. 

"You don't look that big," said one of the men. He had a very sculpted yet handsome face and dark hair that was cut military style - and looked somewhat familiar. 

"Sorry for the lack of finesse. Agent Ward here has a thing about hackers -"

"I don't know...what you're -" I started to say.

"Okay, there are two ways we can do this," the man called Agent Ward said, interrupting me. I crossed my arms and smiled at him teasingly.

"Oh, is one of them the easy way?"

"No." Ward said stoically. 

"Even better!" I said, grinning widely at him. Refusing to let him intimidate me.

"What's your name?" said the other, older man.

I looked at the both of them. "Skye," I answered.

"What's your real name?" the younger man said angrily, not believing me.

"That can wait. It's two other names we need, two certain hero's," said the older one.

"What makes you think I know them?" I said, looking away. 

"Well, you made a little mistake," said the older man as he sat down in the chair opposite me. "You didn't quite cover your tracks when you hacked into our system earlier today. In fact, it had the same cryptographic signature as a few other breaches in security we have been experiencing lately." He picked up a folder while talking and dropped it on the table in front of me.

"Wow. Yeah. Was that a mistake? Or am I now sitting in the center of your secret headquarters? What is this? A plane?" I said, arms still crossed as I looked around the small room. Add a two-way mirror and it would have been almost an exact duplicate of the room I had been debriefed in after escaping Hydra a few months back. I adjusted myself in my chair, a little uncomfortable as I noted this fact.

"I got inside. And, by now, you've discovered you can't beat the encryption on my equipment, so you got nothing." I stated confidently. As much as I hated what Hydra had put me through, they had trained me well.

"We have a fairly strong coincidence," the man across the table said, opening the folder and showing me a picture. "You being on the scene right before it went up in flames," he dropped another folder on top of the first one. "My team is currently searching your van. Want to tell me what they are gonna find out? How did you know the hooded man and the winged angel were in the building?" 

I opened my mouth to tell them that I hadn't known the man was there when Mr. Interruptus did what he apparently does best.

"Did you blow it up to draw them out?"

I looked up at him in shock.

"Did you?" I responded, glaring at him.

"That's not our style," said the man opposite me. I narrowed my eyes at him.

"I was just kidnapped by your "style". Shield covered up New Mexico, Project Pegasus. Of course you'd be covering up Centipede!" I said angrily. I had learned a lot in the last few months. "And for the record, I was going to say - before I was so rudely interrupted, that I didn't know that hooded man was there until after he came bursting through the window!" I paled as I saw a brief smirk on the older man's face as we both realized I had pretty much revealed that I had been involved. Though I could tell it still hadn't occurred to either of them that I was the girl with wings - which, for agents of a secret organization trained to be observant, wasn't very smart.

I huffed, irritated with myself as I watched Mr. Rude mouth "Centipede" questioningly. Ha! Obviously he's not important enough to be in the loop on this one. I smiled and laughed.

"Holy no way. You don't know what that is? Billions of dollars of equipment at your disposal and I beat you with a laptop I won in a bet?" I couldn't stop laughing at this. They were the ones supposed to be on top of everything! 

"You need to think about your friend in the hood and the one with the wings. We're not the only ones interested in people with powers. We'd like to contain them, yeah. The next guy will want to exploit them and the guy after that will want to dissect them."

I grimaced at that as shivers ran down my spine. Hydra was run by a scientist who really seemed to enjoy opening things up...

"Yeah, already been through that enough times as is, thank you. It's not all it's cracked up to be! And no offense, but if Mr. Eyepatch couldn't get me to join, what makes you think you can?" I watched as the older man's eyes widened with curiosity at my mention of Eyepatch Man, clearly not knowing how I knew about him or why he had been trying to recruit me.

Mr. Brooding walked closer to me and leaned down close.

"What is Centipede?"

I stood up and began pacing around as the two men sat staring at me.

"Centipede, it was chatter on the web and then, gone. I traced the access point MAC address to that building," I explained, though not mentioning that I had decided not to pursue the matter when I had discovered the news a few weeks back. It was pure coincidence that I had been walking by the same building when it exploded. You can see how my desire to avoid getting involved had worked out! 

"What were you after?" the younger agent asked.

"The truth. What are you after?" I asked back.

"World peace. You pseudo-anarchist hacker types love to stir things up. But you're never around for the fallout. People keep secrets for a reason, Skye," I looked up in surprise as he got to his feet. 

He was now standing very close to me and towering over me, but I refused to back down. Instead, I put one of my hands to his chest and pushed him back a step.

"Well, just because you're reasonable and...surprisingly firm...doesn't mean that you're not an evil, faceless government tool bag. And for the record, I always seem to get stuck dealing with the fallout, not that you'd know that about me or care!" I hesitated, still trying to hide the fact that I was one of the two they were looking for.

"Just give us your guys name, and tell us where to find the girl!"

"He's not my guy!" I said, furiously, hoping they wouldn't notice I hadn't mentioned "the girl".

"You understand he's in danger?"

"Then let me go! Let me talk to him. Me, not the T-1000 here!" I said, motioning to the young agent who was getting on my nerves, not bothering to mention the "girl" they were looking for again, as she happened to be standing right in front of their faces and wanted nothing to do with them. If it wasn't for Mike, I would have tried busting my way out by now, but I wanted to make sure he stayed safe.

"You want to be alone with him. Of course!" Ward said, rolling his eyes as he glanced over at the older man. "She's a groupie. All this hacking into Shield, tracking powers, she might as well be one of those sweaty cosplay girls crowding around Stark Tower!"

"What?! I would never! Tony does not need anymore of an ego boost!" I exclaimed irritably. Hoping they wouldn't notice my slip up with his first name.

I watched as the older man opened the door and waved the other agent out, closing the door as they left.

It wasn't till several minutes had passed before the two men walked back into the room. 

"Ya know, you still haven't told me your name. I can't keep calling you old man," I said. 

"The name's Coulson, Phil Coulson," he said as he held up a tiny vial of green liquid. I eyed it fearfully, remembering all the injections I had been given in the past.

This is QNB-T16. It's the top shelf martini of sodium pentothal derivatives." Coulson placed the vial inside a strange looking gun. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat, but Ward had his hand on my shoulder restraining me. I glared at him, fighting the urge to break his hand.

"It's a brand new and extremely potent truth drug. Don't worry. The effects only last about an hour," Coulson continued to explain.

"You can stop explaining any time now, I know exactly what that is," I said, leaning back as I tried to stop the memories.

Ward released me and walked to stand next to Coulson.

"Then you'll know that you will have a nice little nap. And we'll have all the answers to our – Hey!" I laughed as I watched Coulson turn toward Ward and shoot him with the drug instead of me; though my heart was still racing from the thought that he had been planning to use that on me.

"What the hell?!" Ward cried as I giggled.

"I'm sorry, did that hurt?" Coulson said with an innocent look on his face. I laughed again.

"No. But you've lost your mind. You should never do that to a member of your team. And yes, it did hurt a little bit. But I always try to mask my pain in front of beautiful women."

He shot me a look and my eyebrows raised in surprise. Ohhhh, I could work with that! Payback is going to be a bitch!

"Because I think it makes me seem more masculine. My God, this stuff works fast!" he finished saying as he sat down in the vacant chair.

Coulson looked at me. "Don't trust us? Ask him whatever you'd like," he said before heading toward the door.

"Wait a minute. Wait, you can't just – this is definitely not protocol!" I grinned as Ward looked at me nervously.

Coulson shut the door in his face though. I cocked my head to the side, looking at Ward. I smiled wickedly as I slowly took my coat off. Ward's eyes glanced down for a moment then focus on my eyes as I continued to grin at him.

"You seem nervous, Agent Ward."

"I'm calling to mind my training." Good luck with that! I thought as I stood up. I leaned over him as I whispered in his ear. I was definitely enjoying toying with him. I think I brought up his grandmother at one point. His face was priceless.

After I had my fun with him, I walked out of the room and into a room with a kick-ass holo-table.

"Did Agent Ward give you anything?" Coulson asked me.

"He told me he's been to Paris, but never really seen it and that he wishes you had stayed in Tahiti," I told him with a smirk on my face.

"It's a magical place," Coulson responded, though something about his answer seemed almost mechanical.

"Ward doesn't like your style," I informed him. I looked around the room with a smile. "I kinda think I do." He seemed like a pretty good guy, though that wasn't necessarily saying much considering the scum I had grown up surrounded by.

"What about his?" I looked at Coulson, not quite understanding what he was talking about. 

He swept his hand along the table and a feed from a news report was shown on one of the TV screens.

It was a news report showing security footage of Mike attacking the factory foreman at his old workplace with a gas canister.

"This is wrong. This is not...the guy I met...he was...He just needs a break!" I said in frustration. I felt so bad for Mike. Something else must have happened since I had stopped by his place in order for him to go after the foreman like that.

"Then give him one. What have you got?"

I looked from Coulson to the screen then back to Coulson again. Trying to decide what to do. I searched Coulson's face and could tell that he was being truthful about genuinely wanting to help Mike Peterson, so I caved and handed him the drivers license I had swiped from Mike at the scene of the explosion. 

Two females and a male entered the room as I stood back and let Coulson do the talking.

The adorable younger man with the sexy accent then pulled up security footage from the explosion, and we all watched in shock as we saw two men arguing. It was hard to understand what they were saying as the data was corrupt.

"I can't sync the timecode without -" started to say Cute Accent Guy; I think his name was Fitz?

I cut him off as I stepped closer to the table.

"What if you had the audio?" I asked.

Fitz turned to fully look at me, possibly for the first time.

I hesitated, trying to come up with a believable story to explain how I had gotten my hands on the audio, since I couldn't very well tell them that I had ripped it from one of the computers at the security desk in the building in between saving people! 

"Uh, I was running surveillance on the lab. I had my shotgun mike pointed at the window before the blast. The digital file's in my van. There's too much background noise for me, but you could probably –" I said, acting as  
confidently as possible to pull off the white lie.

Fitz and his partner, Simmons?, argued back and forth for a little while before turning to look at me and speaking as one as they nodded and told me that it would be great to get the audio.

"Your van's here, but you were right, we couldn't decrypt the files," Coulson spoke up. I nodded, and tried to give an explanation that would get me and my van off this plane as quick as possible. I generally liked to play around with GPS when I hacked, so I decided to go with that. My van hadn't been anywhere near the explosion, but they didn't need to know that!

"The encryptions coupled to the GPS. Get my van back to that alley and then I'm in business," I said, hoping that this would work. I just wanted to get out and warn Mike before getting as far away from this craziness as possible. 

"Agent May will escort you," Coulson called out to me as I headed towards the door. I heard him then tell May to swing by and wake up Agent Ward on our way out. I grinned at that. 

We eventually got my van back to the alleyway where I had been snatched but then I drove past it and off towards the ruins of the building so that they wouldn't realize I was completely fibbing about the GPS, I mean I did use tricks like that sometimes so it wasn't a toral lie, right? I began flipping switches while I talked on my cell phone - which was thankfully not a Stark Phone. 

"Audio file should be coming through. It's not compressed so it might take a minute," I said to Fitz, who was on the call.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm getting it," I heard him say. Damn, that was a lot of yeahs, I thought to myself with a smile. I was starting to like Fitz, not romantically of course - though that accent sure was smexy.

"So, uh, when – when you get back, I'll show you my thing," Fitz said. Ohhh, can I keep him! I laughed as I heard him stammering. 

"A thing, it's not...it's my hardware," man, this was just too much, what with that accent and the stammering! I grinned.

"That sounds worse," I told him, smirking.

"My equipment," he said, trying to recover.

"Not any better, Fitz!" I said, giggling now.

"Let's...hang up." 

I continued to chuckle as I ended the call.

I glanced back over my shoulder and when May wasn't looking, I moved a pad of paper aside, to reveal three microchips I had been hiding. I plucked up the most important one and tucked it quickly into my bra. I couldn't risk them finding what was on here! It wasn't much, but it had all the information I had managed to gather from Hydra and Shield about myself and I couldn't risk it falling into the wrong hands.

"That should do it," I told May as I closed my laptop.

"Let's head back," May started to say, but the next thing I knew, she was falling forward into my van, having been hit by someone from behind. She was then grabbed and flung out and I could finally see that it was Mike.

"Mike! What are you doing?" I cried out.

"Saving you. From the scary men in dark suits. And you're going to help save us." I blinked in confusion.

"Us"?

Mike reached off to the side where I couldn't see. He pulled his son, Ace, into view by his arm, the poor little boy looked scared.

"Don't cry, okay? Stay strong for me, Ace," his dad told him.

I scrambled closer to my wheel as Mike lifted him and Ace into my van. He was speaking to his son about them being a team, but I wasn't really focused on that.

"Now drive," Mike told me. He had me drive to Union Station and pull over. 

"How long's this going to take?" Mike asked as I pulled up his information and began deleting him and his son.

"This is top speed, trust me. It's not like I'm deleting a Facebook page!" I told him, opening a side window and hacking into Shield again and sending them my coordinates. I didn't like it, but it looked like Coulson and his team were going to be my best option for helping Mike, assuming he didn't do something stupid.

I could sense him looking over my shoulder nervously. 

"I'm bypassing the license bureau's A.E.S. protected data stream. So, chill!" I told him.

"How do I know you can really do this?" I sighed. 

"I've done it before." Well, technically I was still doing it. It was the only way I had managed to survive these last months on my own without Hydra or Tony tracking me down! I was constantly going through traffic camera footage and deleting images of myself where they appeared.

I looked over at Mike, who was currently trying to calm Ace down.

"We'll take the nice lady with us. We, we can't go to the airport, so we'll – we'll take a train. And there she'll – she'll help us start over, make a new life – a better life, like I always said." I really hoped that Mike and his son would get to have that, but it was looking less and less likely.

"Mr. Peterson, good morning," I heard Coulson's voice call out from outside my van. We're not a threat. We're here to help. But you're in danger and we need to take you in."

Mike looked at me. "What did you do?!"

His face starts to glow red. Shit! That can't be good!

He looked at me for a few moments, just staring, before suddenly grabbing me and forcibly throwing my van door open. 

He hauled me towards the train station; using me as a human shield to get inside.

Mike lead me past a rough looking group. I took notice of them, looked at Mike, then back at the rough guy in the lead, a plan forming in my head, it wasn't the best, but it would be better than using my powers in broad daylight with Shield right outside! I pulled my leg back and kicked the lead rough guy in the crotch. 

Mike looked back at me in shock.

"You're right, he is a little bitch!" I told the leader, hoping to make him angry. It worked.

The guy's friends rush at us, and I used the distraction to get out of Mike's hold on me.

I saw Ward sneak up on him as he looked around distractedly for his son, who I had noticed being escorted out by Coulson.

"Look, the stuff inside you is unstable. It'll kill you and everyone else in here!" I heard Ward tell Mike. So that's what happened to the building that exploded? It was caused by a juiced up man bursting from an unstable chemical reaction inside of him! My eyes widened in shock and fear as I worried about Mike. Yes, I know, he had just kidnapped me, but he wasn't actually a bad person!

I looked around wildly as Mike tossed Ward aside and landed in front of me, not at his actions, but at the bullet that I felt graze the side of my arm. I glanced up to see an unwelcome newcomer to the party. He clearly wasn't Shield, so who the heck was he? 

I winced as I felt the wound in my arm start to patch itself up. I hastily wiped the blood away, hoping that no one had noticed, otherwise I'd be facing a ton of questions that I didn't want to answer just yet.

Mike continued to yank me forward.

"You've got to stop!" I cried out to him. 

"These people can help you!" I said, pleading desperately for him to slow down and listen.

"The men in suits? They're your buddies now?"

He gripped my arm again leading me further into the room and I bit down on my lip to stop the scream of pain as his hand landed on the bullet wound.

"Where did they take my son?!"

"Get down!" Mike tossed me hard to the ground as we noticed the man from earlier shooting at us again.

Mike crashed into a ticket kiosk crumbling it as he was hit in the shoulder. I looked to the shooter. He cocked his gun and aimed again at me but May arrived behind him before I could even think of how to take the man out without revealing myself. I sighed, happy that I didn't have to worry about it. 

I looked over the railing down to the first floor to see Mike talking to Coulson. Even with my enhanced hearing, I could barely hear what they were saying and just hoped that Mike would listen to Coulson.

From where I stood though, I could see Ward tightening his finger on the trigger of his sniper rifle. But he thankfully hadn't shot yet.

I suddenly heard a silenced gunshot and squeezed my eyes shut as I saw Mike fall back hard. I slowly peeked one eye open, dreading what I might see. 

There were blue lines running down his face and the red was still visible under his skin. 

Coulson and I moved in closer toward Mike. I smiled in relief as I realized that he was going to be ok. I glanced surreptitiously down at my arm as the Paramedics arrived, glad to see that it looked as good as new. 

********************************************

"I told him his father was coming home, I really hope I didn't just lie to a kid!" I told Coulson as I joined him a few days later. I had just finished talking to Ace; letting him know that his father was alright.

"He will. We have some experience with this," Coulson reassured me.

"He almost blew. We almost died." I still could barely comprehend everything that had happened.

"We have some experience with that, too." I couldn't help but think that even with all the craziness and the almost dying, I had still been through a lot worse than this. But I couldn't tell Coulson that.

"Don't have it all mapped out," I said instead, pointing out the fact that there were still loose ends.

"True. We didn't cut off the head of the centipede. Whoever sponsored that little experiment is still out there, among other things."

"It's a brave new world, and a really old car," I said, stroking the side of his car. I liked it. It was retro. 

"Lola can keep up," Coulson said with a smirk as he got into the car.

"What about you?" he asked me.

I climbed in after him. Not wanting to answer, I stayed silent.

"Have you thought about the offer?" Coulson asked me. I rolled my eyes. What was with everyone wanting me to join up with them right after meeting me! 

"Hitching a ride on the crazy plane? I'm not exactly a team player," I pointed out.

"We're not exactly a team. But we're in a position to do some good. You'd be a great help. And you'd be front row center at the strangest show on Earth, which is, after all, what you wanted." I laughed, knowing that he meant I could help with my tech skills, but knowing that there were so many other ways I could help him that he didn't know of. If I was being honest, I liked it that way. It made me feel like he wasn't using me the same way that Furt was trying to.

"I was able to hack Shield...from my van. You're gonna show me something new?" I said smiling.

He smiled right back at me. There was a beeping of a cell phone, and he pushed a button on his dashboard.

"Sir, we've got an 0-8-4." I heard Ward say.

I glanced sideways at Coulson, who looked surprised.

"Is that confirmed?"

"They want us to go in and confirm it."

"What's an 0-8-4?" I asked as Coulson started the engine.

"You've got exactly ten minutes to decide if you really want to know."

"There's no way we can make it to the airfield in –" My eyes widened in shock as he flipped a switch on Lola and suddenly we were flying. It wasn't the same as wings...but it was still pretty amazing!

********************************************

In-Line Comments

\- Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Let me know what you thought about it now that it's really starting to get into AoS! I tried to add more originality to it but not sure how I'm going to do it for the next few episodes so if anyone has any suggestions of how i can incorporate Skye's powers into the scenes without her getting discovered, let me know! If I can't think of anything right now though, I'll probably just go back in and edit/add stuff in later that way I can get out the barebones and have something to work with so please don't hate me if it seems a little skimpy at times! I'm a perfectionist if you don't already know so it's kind of freeing to be able to just right with the knowledge that I can go back in and edit as new ideas come to me since that's how my mind works a lot of the time. I know it doesn't make sense to a lot of people, but all I'm asking is that you keep sharing your thoughts with me on the story in a constructive manner and that if you don't like it, you keep it to yourself and stop reading. I've been getting my first few negative reviews on my Harry Potter story from people threatening to have my story removed and I just want to make it clear that if you dont like something you dont have to read it! But for every person who doesn't enjoy, there are several who DO! So please don't ruin my stories for my readers!  
\- Stay awesome and positive my fellow peeps!


	5. 0-8-4 (Part 1)

Skye's POV

I threw my bag out of my van; which was parked right next to the ramp of the plane, before grabbing the hula dancer that was on my dashboard. 

I then hopped out of the van and shouldered the two bags that contained most of what I owned. The rest fit into a box, which I reached into the van and pulled out next. I took a moment to look at my van one last time. It wasn't much but it was mine...and after years of Hydra controlling my every waking moment - and even my unconscious ones, I wanted to cling to what little was truly mine!

I turned and walked onto the plane and the ramp moved upwards, closing up the plane as I looked around.

"Oh, Agent Coulson told us the news. What a wonderful surprise. Isn't it, Fitz?" Agent Simmons called out to me as she and Fitz came out to greet me.

"Yeah," said Fitz, though he didn't sound all that thrilled.

"No, it's wonderful," said Simmons. I smiled at her.

"Yeah, a surprise," Fitz added.

"You must be very excited." I looked at Simmons.

"Yep, first day of school," I said, trying to keep the sarcasm to a minimum as the two helped me up the spiral staircase.

"Officially it's an airborne mobile command station. But we call it The Bus," Fitz explained to me. I gave him a confused look. 

"We find it best to use shorthand when in the field. But, everything has to be just so, you know, because of the danger," Fitz said. I just looked at him and nodded, already knowing all about the benefits of shorthand since Hydra loved to abbreviate and nickname everything. I had simply been confused over the choice of nickname.

"Yeah, I've been up here before, but I didn't see much because of the bag that Agent Ward put over my head."

"Yes, so sorry about that. Water?" I took the bottle of water that Simmons handed me, but I wasn't very thirsty.

"Wheels up in two. Lock it or lose it," came May's voice over the intercom. I followed Fitz as he lead me over to the last remaining bunk, which he pointed out happened to be right next to his.

He hurried away and I took my two bags and dropped them down as I set the box on the center of the bed. I looked up as Ward appeared, knocking on my door to get my attention.

"Hey, I know we didn't really –" I tried to say, hoping to start fresh with him.

He handed me something, not interested in making small talk. Guess not...

"You may want to read that. This isn't like other planes."

I opened the pamphlet he gave me - it showed the layout of the plane and the many exits off of it.

"You could say that again," I mumbled as I read the pamphlet over. I glanced sideways as Coulson walked over to me.

"Say what again?"

"Sweet ride!" I said, smiling at him.

"I earned a little good will from Directory Fury when I got hit right before the Battle of Los Angeles. I looked at him in interest. That had been right after I moved down from New York to California. It had taken all of my will power not to step in and help out, but in the end, I had kept my head down and let Tony and the others do the work, apparently with Agent Coulson helping them.

"You took a bullet?" I asked in surprise. 

"Ish. An Asgardian stabbed me through the heart with a chitauri scepter. The effect was similar." Wow and I thought I was the only walking zombie around! "Got a few weeks R&R and this plane. Had it completely refurbished, studs up, spared no expense." I grinned at the boyish look of excitement on his face.

"Yeah, Ward told me they sent you to Tahiti."

"It's a magical place," he said, again sounding slightly mechanical as he said it.

"You mentioned that," I said, frowning. Something seemed off...but I shrugged it off.

We walked over to a booth-like table and I went to put my water down but Coulson stopped me.

"Here, use a coaster." I rolled my eyes.

We both buckled up as I looked over at Coulson. 

"I don't even know where we're going," I pointed out to him.

"Peru. That's where the 0-8-4 was reported."

"And an 0-8-4 is...?" I asked, with raised eyebrows.

"An object of unknown origin. Kind of like you. Team goes in, determines if it's useful or if it poses a threat." I looked at him as he stared me down with curious eyes.

********************************************

"We should warn the people who live around here if the 0-8-4 is dangerous. They're already dealing with anti-mining rebels and the Shining Path Guerillas. I could post something," I suggested to Coulson as we made our way to the Archeological dig site.

"Remember the panic when that anti-matter meteor splashed down just off the coast of Miami, nearly devoured the City?"

"No," I said, though that was probably because it happened while I was still in Hydra's clutches - not that I was going to tell Coulson that!

"Precisely. Because we kept it quiet and contained."

"So, what am I doing?" I asked, confused.

"Well, if it gets out, I might need you to create some kind of diversion, put the public on the wrong scent." 

"So...everything that I'm against," I said as I blinked at him.

"Yep." Great, just great. 

I listened in as Coulson introduced himself to the Professor, who then explained to us how he had found something in the Incan temple that was impossible and looked like it might be dangerous. The news just keeps on getting better and better!

"Well, that's why we're here," I heard Coulson say as he tried to reassure the Professor.

The Professor lead Coulson and the rest of us through the door.

I saw ancient writing on the wall along with something that was shiny metal with blue glowing lights. It looked like there were some wires running out of the device.

"Who else knows about this?" Coulson asked after the Professor had finished reassuring him that they had left the object exactly as it was found.

"Just the ministry. I believe they are the ones who contacted you."

"Sir, I need you and your team to evacuate the site until we determine the risk associated with this object," Coulson told the Professor as Fitz-Simmons got their equipment out.

I pulled out my phone and did a quick, but thoroughly extensive, search across the Internet.

"There's nothing about this anywhere," I concluded with a laugh. "It's amazing. I searched every data stream. What do we got here, guys?"

I got closer to the device and slowly reached a hand out to touch it.

"Whoa, car – uh, careful. I – no I wouldn't do that," Fitz warned me.

I hastily lowered my hand and looked back at Fitz worried.

"The object's placement in this fossiliferous rock formation suggests it's been here for at least 1,500 years. That pre-dates this temple by a millennium. Ah! Maybe it's alien," said Simmons excitedly. 

No, no, no! Can't things ever be simple! 

"Yeah, but the shape and craftsmanship, it's almost German," Fitz pointed out. I laughed. 

I walked back over to Coulson in time to hear Ward warning him over the walkie-talkie about something.

"Lots of rebels in this area," I commented.

"Not enough gunfire. Keep working." He clicked the walkie-talkie. "I'm on my way," he told Ward as I went back to join Fitz-Simmons.

"Are you seeing this? It's alive," Fitz suddenly said. 

"Wha – alive, alive?" I took a step back as I suddenly realized how close I was standing to the device.

"It has a functioning power source," he explained.

I turned and looked at the device while the two scientists talked back and forth using words I could barely understand.

"Depends on the shifting of the temporal radio stuff, so..." I interjected, hopelessly failing at keeping up with them, but not wanting to be left out. It was an odd feeling and not one that I had ever experienced before...

They both look up at me with confused faces, obviously missing my joke.

"It's totally weird, right?" I gave them a smile, but they were still looking at me like I was talking gibberish - which in their defence, I was. Why do I want them to like me so much? I hardly ever cared what people thought of me - if you didn't count Tony, Steve, Natasha, Clint, and for some strange reason, the Winter Soldier. But I put that down to the fact that they had been the very first people I could actually remember meeting who weren't Hydra. I shook my head to stop my mind from heading down dark roads.

"I'm gonna go check on Coulson," I said, hoping for a distraction. 

I turned to head out of the temple, but Ward walked in, stopping me in my tracks.

"We've got company. National police," he informed us.

"What? Why are they here?" Fitz-Simmons cried out.

"They heard about this object, they're probably here to protect it. This area has lots of rebel uprisings."

"Yeah, people are fighting back against the government's mining policies. It's pretty kick ass!" I said, having read up on the issues on the plane ride over. I just wished I'd been able to stand up to Hydra like these people were doing. I had rebelled when and wherever I could, but they were very creative with their punishments and while I had always done my best to not let them see it, they terrified me. I hated this fact, because it showed how weak I really was. At least these people were working together to fight for what they believed was right!

I glanced up to see Ward glaring at me angrily.

"Yeah, it's kick ass, all the violence." 

"That's not what I'm saying!" I crossed my arms and returned Ward's glare with one of my own. He always managed to twist my words to fit his image of who he thought I was...it was aggravating.

I growled under my breath as he point-blank ignored me and turned to Fitz-Simmons. "How much longer?"

"What's the hurry? Are we in danger?" They asked. 

"Not if everyone does their job." He looked at me coldly. "What is yours, exactly?"

I was about to open my mouth and slice his ego to smithereens, when I realized that with all of them not knowing I had powers, I didn't really have a roll here. Other than media control apparently...I closed my mouth and lowered my eyes, more hurt by his comment then either of us realized. What was I doing here? Why had Coulson wanted me on his team? 

Fury's reasons I could understand, since he knew as much about me as I did, which was not much - but enough to think that I could use my powers to help bring down Hydra and protect the planet for aliens...but Coulson? As far as he was aware, I was just sum bum living out of my van who was good with computers...what use did he possibly have of someone that fit that discription? 

I was cut off from my depressing thoughts as an explosion from outside rocked the ground, raining down dirt on all of us. Both Ward and I went on immediate alert - not that Ward noticed, probably thinking that I would be useless in a fight. 

Part of me wanted to prove him wrong, but a larger part wanted to keep my secret for as long as I could; though I'd certainly enjoy the look on his face when he finally did realize that he had completely misjudged me and was a twig compared to me.

"Sounds like they're engaging with rebels. Let's go," he said as he peered his head out of the archway. "Rebels, they're coming for it. Let's move!" He confirmed as he motioned for Fitz-Simmons to hurry things up.

I tried to help Fitz pack his things but he was being extremely picky.

"No, no, no, no, no, no," he kept saying as he rearranged everything I touched. 

"It doesn't matter!" I exclaimed in frustration. 

"It does to me!"

"Please, let us do this," Simmons said. I backed off, raising my arms up in defeat. "We need a containment case for the 0-8-4," she continued to say.

Ward and I looked at her like she was insane. There is so not time for this!

"There's no time," Ward cried out, echoing my thought. I think that was the first thing we had ever agreed on - and it was probably also the last.

Fitz started rambling something sciency but another explosion rocked the ground around us and I closed my eyes as dirt poured down on me.

Ward walked away from the opening and back to the device.

"Sorry, science class is over." With that said, he grabbed onto the device and yanked it out of the wall. My eyes widened in shock. I didn't have to be an expert like Fitz or Simmons to know that what he had just done was extremely dangerous!

"You did not just pull that out of the wall! What is the matter with you?! Do you realize we do not know the amount of photon emissions coming out of this –" Fitz yelled. Ward just gave him a hard shove making him turn to face the opening of the temple, Fitz got the message, though I frowned at the manner in which it had been delivered.

We all filed out - Fitz being the last one to leave, hiking his bag higher on his back.

We had just exited when we were met with heavy fire. I ducked down, but not in time to miss the bullet that tore through my leg. I sighed heavily as I did my best to hide the limp in my step as Ward ordered us to get back. 

This was the second bullet wound in less than a few days! I really hoped I wasn't going to be making a habit of this! I mean the pain of a few stray bullets was nothing compared to being cut open by a crazed scientist who liked to keep his subject awake and alert during his experimentations, but it wasn't something I wanted to be dealing with on a semi-daily basis! Especially since I would be in big trouble if I kept getting injured and anyone noticed the rate at which I healed...

I watched as Ward pulled something out of his coat - it looked like a small baton. With a flick of his wrist, it lengthened to look more like a walking cane. 

Ward did a fancy roll off the steps before coming to rest on his knees on the ground in front of the temple - which I thought was a bit flashy and unnecessary. He drove the cane into the ground and pressed a button on top. A small device poped out of the top, hovered in the air for a moment, then sent out a shockwave of green energy. It hit the rebels in the trees, sending them flying back.

Ward pulled the cane out of the ground and tossed it aside as he waved us on. I did my best not to stumble as we crossed the clearing. An SUV arrived with perfect timing to block the shots fired from one of the rebels who had managed to stay on his feet. 

The passenger side door opened, showing May behind the wheel. I breathed a sigh of relief as I clambered in and she sped off towards the plane.

"Slow down!"

I stared at Fitz. "You're joking, right?"

"Ward, listen, we have to be careful. There's a binding energy structure that could overheat."

Simmons got an excited look. "I could roll down a window!"

"Do not roll down a window!" I shouted, grabbing her hand for good measure as the rebels began firing at the SUV.

May reached over to the radio area of the car, but instead of a radio, it was some sort of computer screen. She punched a few buttons and the ramp on The Bus began to lower.

"How fast can you have the wheels up?" Ward asked. 

"Fast." She really likes her one worded responses! I couldn't help thinking, as we got out of the SUV and raced up the ramp. 

I looked back and realized that Fitz was falling behind, leaving him right in the line of fire. I quickly darted back and pulled him out of harms way, cursing as another bullet thudded into my lower calf. It's a good thing I wore black jeans today! Otherwise there would be no hiding all this damn blood. I guess I could just say it isn't mine if anyone is observant enough to notice amidst all the chaos...

"Cutting it pretty close, sir," I heard Ward say as Coulson finally arrived, followed by the members of the national police. 

"Didn't want to leave anyone behind," Coulson stated. I smiled at his words, feeling my respect for the man double. 

"Now, what was the problem?" Ward said, addressing Fitz as he holstered his gun.

"As I said before, this device has a high-frequency, fluctuating, sub-material compression -"

"Fitz, in English." That was English...I silently pointed out - he just wasn't using terms we had the know-how to comprehend. 

"The 0-8-4 is full of lethal amounts of gamma radiation," Fitz explained. My eyes widened as I started to see where this was going. I really miss my van right now!

"Gamma, you're saying its nuclear?" Ward clarified. I rolled my eyes but let Coulson set him straight. 

"No. He's saying it's much, much worse." 

The five of us who had been standing in a half circle around the bag holding the device all look down and then started moving back.

Coulson, Ward, Fitz, and the national police officers all headed up the spiral staircase, some of them mumbling about finding something to drink. 

I followed Simmons into her and Fitz's lab, watching as she carefully lifted the device out.

"Not to worry, the device is stable," she said, though I think it was more for her own sake than mine. 

"Not that it couldn't explode at any minute, especially if hit with machine gun fire. But, things like this happen from time to time when in the field, and at first, it's very unpleasant, and you regret your decision to leave the lab at all." I listened quietly as she talked more to herself than me, knowing from first-hand experience the joys of rambling. 

"Are you mental?" 

The two of us looked up at the sound of Fitz's voice - which paved his way as he and Ward followed close behind a few moments later when they entered the lab. It was obvious that they were in the middle of an argument. Something that did not come as a surprise to me, considering Ward was involved...

"I did explain in great detail, exactly what I meant, using the Queen's bloody English!" I laughed at this, quickly catching on to the reason for their argument.

"I use normal English. Words like 'duck' and 'run' and 'might blow us to pieces'." I clapped a hand over my mouth to muffle my giggles, not wanting to draw Ward's attention to me when he was already upset enough as is.

"Oh! Well, congratulations, Agent Ward. You managed to string three words together in a sentence!" I could barely breathe. Dying of laughter was definitely not something I ever thought was a possibility for me.

Fitz had been carrying a case when he walked in, which he now set down on the table - taking out some sort of tool and tinkering with it while Ward and he continued to argue. 

I glanced up as the door whooshed open and Coulson entered.

"I'm trying to tell you –" Fitz was saying, but as you can guess, Ward interrupted him.

"I don't understand anything you're saying!" Oh, honey, I'm sure there are a lot of things you do not understand! I thought to myself.

"Do we have a problem?" Coulson asked sternly.

The two boys immediately stop fighting and looked at him, like chastised children.

"No, sir. Just working on our communication. Not everyone was prepared for a firefight." Ward better not be talking about me! I'd bet my lucky hula dancer girl that I had ten times the training he ever had!

"We got out, didn't lose anyone, saved a few of theirs, I'd say we did all right. Anything else?" Coulson stated. Man, I was really starting to like this guy. He really summed that up perfectly.

That fact didn't stop me from raising my hand into the air though.

"Uh, yeah. I've got a small question. Because Mr. Big-shot over here as been treating me like the tagalong hayseed rookie, but now I get the sense that Ward doesn't know which one's Simmons and which one's Fitz - and I'm not a rocket scientist, but is this your first mission together?" 

"No, of course not. It's our second!" Simmons declared.

"I was your first? Aww, how sweet," I said sarcastically.

"You're amused?" asked Ward, throwing me another one of his signature moody looks.

"Actually, I am! You keep acting like some high and mighty guru who knows everything and can't do wrong, but I have been on this team just as long as any of you. I might as well be Team Captain!" I said, completely kidding about that last part.

Simmons scoffed and looked away as Fitz shot a look at Ward. 

"I was joking, but maybe that's not a bad idea, because these guys do not like each other much," I commented, looking at Coulson with my brows raised.

"This isn't about that," said Ward, again ignoring everything I had just said. He probably hadn't even listened to a single word of it...He turned and looked to Coulson. "I'm a specialist. Today, I could have eliminated the enemy threat myself if I was working alone. But, I had non-combat ready agents –" There he goes again, I really wish I had a pin to pop that inflated ego of his!

"Whoa, whoa. Wait. You work alone?" Hmm, maybe Fitz will do it for me?

Simmons nodded in agreement with Fitz.

"So typical. Who do you think designs your equipment?" She stated. 

"Or the polymers for your weaponry?" Fitz added.

I walked around the table as Ward focused on the other two, about to dissolve into a fight again.

"Yeah," said Simmons.

"People like us do it," continued Fitz. I'd noticed they liked to finish each other's sentences a lot. 

"Try going into the field with just your bare bum!" I laughed at the mental image of Ward that Simmons had just put in my head.

I went to go stand closer to Coulson and spoke to him quietly.

"See them proving the point I just made?"

Coulson nodded slightly to me. "You're not wrong. We still need to iron out the kinks. But, Ward, you can speak six languages. Simmons, you have two PhDs in fields I can't pronounce, and Fitz, you are a rocket scientist. So work it out!" With that, he walked out of the room as I stared at his back in disbelief. Geesh, I know he barely knows who I am; neither do I, but way to just leave me hanging! It's not like Ward doen't already have enough reasons to think I'm useless!

"I'm good at stuff too you know!" I called out after him, though I doubt he heard me.

Ugh. I turned around and headed up the spiral staircase to my bunk. I grabbed my hula girl and flopped onto my bed, sighing as I flicked the figurine, making her wobble back and forth. I sighed again and reached over to put the hula girl back on the windowsill as I rolled up the bottom of my left pant leg and pulled out the two bullets that were lodged there. I watched and waited until the skin had started to knit back together before rolling the cloth back down and sinking into the mattress, my eyelids getting heavy as my energy left me weak and tired as it worked its' way towards patching me up good as new.

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In-Line Comments

\- Heyyy, so I realized as I was writing this chapter that by making the AoS happen before the Battle of New York it would kind of change the order of events in which Coulson originally gets "killed" so I hope y'all can get behind my Battle of Los Angeles that I came up with on the fly! And I got rid of the mention of Thors Hammer as the last 0-8-4 since I have yet to watch any of that (I know, dont hate me!) so I figured I'd just bring him and Loki in for the Battle of New York like it originally happened.  
\- So basically what ends up happening for the Battle of Los Angeles is that Nick brings in Steve, Tony, Natasha, Clint, (and Banner? Should he be there as well? Haven't decided if he's going to be another soulmate...what do you guys think?) to do a trial run of the Avengers Initiative when things go bad in LA. (Should it be Loki? Haven't decided if it is going to be a different alien attack or just a preemptive strike of Loki's as he prepares to attack New York? Like a scouting mission or something? Thoughts?) but yeah, so Coulson still gets stabbed etc but depending on what you readers think, it'll be by Loki or some other alien. That way the Avengers will still think he's dead and there will still be the whole Tahiti plot, but it opens up the OC to come in and be the one who unites the Avengers for the Battle of New York if that makes sense? Plus it adds the fact that she can't tell them that she knows Coulson is alive.   
\- So kind of just picture for now, somewhat similar events from the Battle of New York happening in LA with Coulson and the "soon to be Avengers", just minus a few members of the team that will be there when I actually get to the Battle of New York in my story, and maybe or maybe not different aliens? If all of this really doesn't make sense to anyone please just let me know! Kinda just leaving it up to your imagination for now but if anyone has any suggestions and or wants me to actually write a flashback or something in 3rd party pov just let me know! And I'll work a little more on figuring out how to edit/fix the plot hole. It's making sense to me, but I obviously don't know how it turns out looking for you readers when you read and don't know all the things I have planned in my head - so again, just share your feedback!  
\- and don't forget to let me know if you want me to add in Banner and any other characters as soulmates! Got quite a few chapters before I have to worry about that but also been wondering if I should make any of the AoS characters as more of her soulmates as well? And if so which ones? I can go back and add their words in later if people do want me to add more than just Avengers to her list of soulmates and it's anyone that she has already met, but figured I should put that out there and see what people think since it was originally going to be just Avengers but I'd been toying around for a long time with writing a Skye story as well and decided to combine them into one.


	6. 0-8-4 (Part 2)

Skye's POV

I woke up a few hours later, feeling slightly better as I examined my now completely healed leg - but still groggy. I got up and went to search the plane for something to do to kill the time before we landed. 

I headed to the bar and grabbed a bottle of whiskey; not that it; or any alcohol for that matter, was strong enough to affect me for very long what with my insane metabolism - but it would have to do as my form of entertainment for now. On my way back to my room, I stumbled upon Ward, who was sitting on a couch reading a book. 

"Hunger Games"? I asked, teasingly.

Ward looked up at me and the bottle in my hand.

"Matterhorn," he answered. I glanced over at the soldiers on the other side of the room, who were sitting at a table playing cards. Though where their leader was, I didn't know. Her name was Camilla; if I remembered correctly, but I figured she and Coulson were catching up.

"One of a hundred books my S.O. gave me that I'm just getting around to," Ward said, his eyes on me. He had this look of realization on his face - almost as if he was remembering something. Before I could give it much thought, his face had returned to it's normal expressionlessness. 

I tilted my head at him, questioning his use of words.

"S.O., Supervising Officer," he explained. Huh, I guess they called them differently at Shield. Hydra just called them what they were. Trainers. While certain similarities existed between the two groups, there were so many differences I could barely keep up. I decided to play up my role as the "not so innocent hacker" in order to explain my confusion.

"Got it. Hackers have lingo too, but I'll pick yours up...I feel like you and me, wrong foot. Can I -" I raised the bottle up and swung it side to side, "- buy you a drink?"

Ward gave me a tiny smile as he waved me over and put his book aside; mumbling to himself as he did so. It sounded like he'd said, "so now she cares?" but I had no idea what he was talking about and dismissed it easily as I twirled the whisky bottle behind my back, tossed it over my shoulder, and spun it around in one hand, before pouring the amber liquid into two glass tumblers.

"What I said before, when I said the uprising was...whatever I said, a good thing. I don't want you to think I'm oblivious. What I was talking about was the tweets," I said, attempting to explain what I had meant earlier, while trying not to let myself get distracted with thoughts of Hydra - instead, focusing on what a typical hacker might say.

"Tweets. Are you trying to make things better or worse?"

"Peruvians have organized for the first time in decades. Thousands of suffering people who have never met uniting over a common idea? It's mind-blowing. And, I don't want to bring it up because I don't want to see your hate face..." I tried again, pausing as I gave him a look when his face turned into a frown.

"...since I know you prefer to do everything on your own, but usually one person doesn't have the solution. But, 100 people with 1% of the solution, that'll get it done!" I said, having no idea where any of this was coming from yet seeing the truth in what I said as the words tumbled out.

Ward continued to stare at me with a blank face.

"I think that's beautiful, pieces solving a puzzle." Not that I had ever gotten to play with puzzles; or any other normal toys, with Hydra raising me...

Ward let out a sigh, leaned up, and took his share of whiskey from my hand.

"You and I see the world differently is all."

We both took a drink before setting the glasses down. He let out a grunt when he leaned forward and I looked worriedly at his side, noticing for the first time, a circle of blood on his shirt. Ha! So, I wasn't the only one to get shot! Was it wrong that I felt slightly better knowing that he had gotten shot too?  

"You got shot too?" I asked, clamping my mouth shut as I realized I had just slipped up. Not that he seemed to notice...

"Skin deep. Nothing to worry about," he said in a very nonchalant way. 

"Well, no wonder you were so pissed," I commented, not about to mention the fact that I had just pulled out two bullets from my leg not more than a few hours ago yet hadn't felt the need to blame the members of the team for it or end up shouting at Fitz-Simmons like he had done.

"I wasn't pissed. I was trained to be the whole solution, to eliminate variables," he stated, looking around at the soldiers playing cards. "...And today, they keep adding up."

I looked up at the ceiling.

"We're turning."

"We've entered restricted airspace, so we have to follow certain flight paths according to regulation. This plane is capable of fully automated flight, but May has to be on the stick herself tonight."

I couldn't help letting out a little laugh.

"You've got an S.O. and May's got to 'be on the stick'. Lots of good lingo on this plane."

"Yeah. We just can't seem to understand each other," Ward said. He had a point there, not that I would admit it.

I watched the soldiers closely, noticing that they hadn't touched their drink. Then I saw one of the soldiers give a barely perceptible nod to the other - but it was perceptible to me and my enhanced eyes - and apparently to Ward as well.

"Skye, hand me the bottle," he said, trying to sound calm, probably thinking I hadn't noticed what was going on around me. Boo, I was gonna use it to bash one of the soldier's heads in...Ward was ruining my fun!

But we couldn't let them know we had spotted what they were up to.

"Okay, turbo, but you're still nursing the one you got," I said, lightly. Keeping up a charade for the soldiers. I picked up the bottle reluctantly and handed it over to him, glancing around the room to find something else I could use as a weapon; other than the pillows on the couch, which would hardly cause any damage. 

I could always use the glass tumblers still filled with whiskey, but it seemed a shame to waste it...

"I'm not the only one," Ward said, flicking his eyes over to the soldiers, in his attempt to warn me about them - thinking, wrongfully so, that I hadn't noticed. That man gave me no credit whatsoever!

The next thing I know, Ward was grabbing me and pushing me out of the way as one of the soldiers rushed at us - the bottle broke on the table as they fought - what a waste.

I hit one of the soldiers in the face, sending him over a half wall. The other rushed at Ward and Ward tackled into him driving the man into a post.

I looked up as Coulson ran down the spiral staircase with Camilla right behind, which gave the soldier I was about to fight, a chance to grab me from behind. Damn, if I wasn't worried about my cover, I'd knock this asshole to the ground!

We all froze and looked around. On one of the monitors we could see one of the soldiers was holding Fitz with a knife to his neck. Coulson looked over to Camilla, who was holding an injured side, as he walked towards her.

"We were allies. We had history. When did you decide to throw that away?" he asked her angrily.

Her face no longer showed smiles or flirtation, it showed determination.

"As soon as I saw your team." 

The next thing I knew, the soldier behind me was knocking me out - Ward's worried face, the last thing I saw as stars swam before my eyes and I passed out in the soldiers arms. Aww, was Ward finally starting to care? was my last thought before the world faded to black.

********************************************

I woke up only to find myself tied with my hands behind my back. Ward on my left, Simmons on my right.

"This is all my fault. I should've learned Kung Fu," I heard Fitz saying as I groaned and squirmed my way up into a seated position as best I could. Ward nudged me and I nodded to tell him that I was fine.

"Oh, yeah, but I shouldn't have pushed you into the field in the first place. You weren't ready," Simmons said back to Fitz.

Everyone started to speak at the same time. I just blinked as I focused on not seeing stars.

"It was my job to make a proper threat assessment," Ward commented.

"This wouldn't have happened if Agent May wasn't on the stick," I said, or if I weren't so worried about my cover being blown! I just didn't want to lose their friendship; not realizing how nice it was to have, and I certainly didn't want Tony or Steve and the others to find me just yet and end up ruining everything. I wanted to use my powers to help...I really did, but I wasn't quite ready to just dive right in so soon after escaping from Hydra. Maybe Coulson's team would be the perfect way to ease myself into the idea of it all. "She would've busted out some of her ninja know-how," I said, finishing my sentence.

Fitz looked at me and shook his head. "Agent May? No. No, no, she transferred from administration."

"Well, I've seen her destroy a guy, so..." I said, thinking back to the train station and the whole Mike Peterson fiasco. 

We all looked over to Ward. He glanced at us then sighed.

"You've heard of The Cavalry?"

"She's the Calvary? No way! No wonder Natasha looked at me like that when I pretended to be her!" May definitely didn't seem like someone who would have appreciated my little stunt - I had yet to see her crack even the tiniest of smiles.

"I told you, never to call me that," we heard May say, as she finally woke up. I noticed her looking at me suspiciously and clamped my mouth shut, hoping she hadn't heard me mention Natasha. Did they personally know each other?

"I can't believe it. Oh, we're sure to get out of here now," Simmons said, giggling. She leaned over and around me to look at May. "Um, how do we get out of here?" I mean technically I could just break out of this with my inhuman strength...

May sat up with a grunt. "We can't go through the doors. They're bolted, tied to the pressurization lines. You two geniuses have nothing?"

Fitz and Simmons shared a look.

"Yeah, well, it's hard to concentrate in these intense situations," they said.

Ward spoke softly to Fitz and I was surprised to hear the compassion in his voice.

"Hey, don't freeze up. Take a breath. You don't need to come up with the whole solution -" he nudged my side, "- just part of it. Right?"

I smiled and nodded, happy that we were finally starting to get along and that he had been listening to what I said.

"Yeah. Pieces solving a puzzle."

Everyone started to glance around the cargo hold until a plan slowly started to form.

"Well, that's clearly the worst idea I've heard yet," Simmons said.

"But, it could work," I pointed out.

"Reyes is gonna kill us the minute we land, regardless, and blame it on rebels. This way we have a fighting chance. I'll take it!" Ward said, looking at Fitz. "What's first?"

"We can't get upstairs without going in the lab," Fitz answered.

"And the only way to release the lab doors is from upstairs," Simmons continued for him.

"The first thing is we're tied to the cargo door -" I started to say, thinking that I might just have to break out after all and hope no one questioned me about it. But just as I was about to, we heard a loud crack that cut me off and I looked over to where it originated from, May. 

We all flinched.

"What the hell was that?" Fitz cried out.

"Her wrist," Ward explained.

"What's next?" May asked after she had taken out the soldier who had been guarding us from the landing above. She gripped her wrist with her other hand and gave it a twist, causing more cracks.

"Okay, we're sure, right? Everyone's sure?" I asked as we huddled.

"We're all on board. Yep. Let's do this fast," said Fitz-Simmons.

"No turning back, no freezing up," added Ward.

"Because if we do then..." Fitz started to say.

"All of us die," Ward finished - I noticed he was looking at me as he said that, but didn't really get why.

The sound of a car engine revving caught our attention. May was standing on the driver's side door of the SUV looking at us all.

"You guys talk a lot."

She got into the car closing the door. She then put the SUV into drive, sending it into the glass doors of the lab. 

We entered the lab and started getting to work.

Simmons stood on a table with a drill, using it on the ceiling of the lab to open up the air vent. Fitz was getting out his drones and I went over to the lockers and looked through them. 

May finally got the door open and headed out. Fitz sent one of his drones up through the vent and Ward was kneeling on the floor above a black bag, pulling out some rope. 

I also had a bag I was digging into and I pulled out some black straps triumphantly.

I walked over to Fitz and wrapped a few of the straps around his waist while Ward saw to Simmons. He then came over to me. I sighed when he stepped in close to loop a rope to my own waist, not willing to tell him that I wouldn't need it. I wasn't some frail girl who was going to start flopping around helplessly once the second part of our plan went into effect! 

Fitz-Simmons and I made our way to the catwalk inside the cargo hold.

Fitz looked at Simmons with a worried look. "Forget what I said before. This, is the moment we'll regret."

I heard a beeping noise from his tablet as the drone he was controlling located the 0-8-4 and sent a pulse at it. As we had been hoping, the device let out a ray of energy that blasted a hole in The Bus. 

Alarms started blaring as the various screens throughout the plane showed the damage to the plane. 

"It worked," I said as Simmons smiled at Ward.

"The drop in cabin pressure released the doors!" she said excitedly.

"I'll take care of the soldiers, you guys get to the 0-8-4," said Ward. I frowned, wanting to get in on the action - yet not wanting to have to explain how I knew how to fight.

"And Coulson?" Fitz asked.

"Let's hope he can handle himself," Ward told him as he opened the door to where the breach was and we all braced against the wind. One of the remaining soldiers immediately began firing at us.

"Get back!" Ward shouted.

The soldier stopped firing and ran toward us. He and Ward began to fight. I noticed a second soldier had appeared and was aiming his gun up to point at Ward; who wasn't aware of him. 

I looked around carefully to make sure no one was watching, before quickly spinning around and kicking the gun out of the soldiers hand so that when Ward turned around and saw him, he was able to restrain him with ease. 

"Go now! Find the 0-8-4." Ward called out to us. Your welcome! I thought as I left with Fitz-Simmons, bracing myself against the wind.

I pulled Fitz in close as he narrowly avoided tumbling out of the plane. I should be put on the pay roll as his bodyguard at this point!

We finally managed to locate the 0-8-4; which had buried itself into the wall. Ward was struggling to reel us in by the straps we had wrapped around us when the pamphlet Ward had gave me that morning flew into my face. I suddenly remembered something I had spotted when I had read it earlier and reached down to untie myself.

"What are you doing? We need your help!" Simmons cried out.

"Trust me!" I called out over my shoulder as I headed over to a box on one of the walls.

I opened it and yanked out something bright yellow and plastic. I grabbed onto it tight as I began my way back across the room as I spotted a soldier who was clinging onto the black line I had abandoned - which was still currently attached to Simmons.

I saw Fitz moving deeper into the room, pulling on the line between him and Simmons, bringing her close to him, but the solider still had a hold of the line. Stupid plane! There wasn't enough room for my wings to expand, and with the harsh wind coming from the hole in the plane, my speed was dulled to that of a normal human! I clenched my jaw as I tried desperately to reach them in time.

"Cut him loose!" I heard Simmons shout to Fitz. I applauded her quick thinking as Fitz released the carabiner on his waist and the line the soldier was holding onto went slack, sending him backwards into Ward.

I watched in fear as the soldier's momentum pushed the two of them closer towards the hole. Ward used one of his hands to grab onto a post and the other to hold onto the soldier. 

"Sorry! Sorry, Ward!" Fitz-Simmons yelled over the wind.

"Hold on!" Ward was shouting to the soldier, who was gripping his shirt tightly. But the wind was too strong and Ward's shirt ripped, sending the soldier flying out of the open hole.

I hurried to open the bag in my hands and watched anxiously as it began to inflate into a boat right as Ward lost his grip on the post and flew towards the opening.

The boat arrived just in time to stop Ward from being sucked out. I breathed a sigh of relief as I looked around the room. The last soldier hadn't given up yet. He was on his belly, dragging himself closer towards a gun on the floor. A foot with a dress shoe arrived to pin his hand as the solider looked up at the owner with anger. 

I smirked as Coulson's fist slammed down, knocking the solider out. Coulson then bent down and picked up the gun. Ward, breathing hard, glanced over, astonished at what happened. I stepped back and leaned against the closest wall as the plane banked; May having gained control once more. Fitz and Simmons both popped their heads over the half wall, panting.

I heaved myself back up straight and made my way over to Ward; offering up a hand to help him up - he accepted the gesture and got to his feet.

"I read the safety pamphlet," I told him with a grin.

"I think you may be the first."

We all met up in the Planning Room; panting with exertion and relief.

"No other way in, huh?" Coulson asked, setting a partially broken glass down on the table. "I was just starting to warm up to this place."

I reached over and grabbed a coaster; moving the tumbler to sit on top of it as I gave him a little smile.

"The 0-8-4 is cooling and stable. But we should call H.Q. and get it to the slingshot as soon as possible," Fitz said.

Coulson turned and looked down at Camilla; who was now tied to a pole. She slowly looked up at him in defeat.

"I told you they were good," Coulson said with pride.

********************************************

A few hours later we finally reached our destination. I headed down the spiral staircase to see Coulson leaning over Lola, looking her over for damage.

"Not a scratch, but your plane's totaled. I hope Shield insurance covers hijackings," I said.

"Sure, under 'incidentals'."

I couldn't help but laugh.

"What exactly am I signing up for?" I asked. I had been shot twice, knocked unconscious, and almost sucked out of a plane - and that was just day one!

"Like I said, front-row seat to the craziest show on Earth." Coulson replied. Maybe I was wrong about this being a good stepping stone...seems like I already have dived into the deep end before learning to swim first...

"Yeah, but I didn't expect the show to get this crazy this fast, all for an object you're just going to destroy."

"Slingshot is protocol. A weapon like the 0-8-4 is too dangerous for any person or country to have. People like Reyes would always be after it." I guess that made sense. 

"What happened with Reyes, anyway?" There had definitely been chemistry between the two.

"She's being held at a Shield detainment facility. I expect the Peruvian government will negotiate for her release. She probably won't spend much time in jail," Coulson answered, not understanding what I was getting at. 

"No, I mean, what happened with you and Reyes?" I clarified. "You guys totally did it back in the day, right?" I grinned at him.

He looked up at me and raised his eyebrows.

"That's classified," he said. I chuckled under my breath as he walked away quickly. 

I glanced up as Fitz and Simmons walked down the spiral staircase; Fitz holding a cooler and Simmons a beer.

"We blew up a plane," Fitz was saying.

"I had a new experience," stated Simmons. 

"Eat that, Professor Vaughn!" I laughed at Fitz's remark; though not knowing who he was referring to. He turned and looked at May and Ward; who had just joined us. "Hey, come on. You guys don't want to miss this!" He said, excitedly.

Fitz-Simmons walked to the end of the ramp and sat on the edge, their legs dangling. Ward, May, and I headed over to join them.

"So, it'll take about 180 days to reach the sun. Now, yes, of course, it would have been faster if they'd use hydrogen-fueled APUs, but they're having fun," Fitz explained as Simmons reached into the cooler and pulled out beers for us. I shook my head though.

No offense, but when I had started working at "Nights", I had quickly discovered that I hated the taste of beer. I had never been allowed to have alcohol of any kind when Hydra had me in their clutches and I was excited at first to finally be able to try it, but it had been disgusting and a huge disappointment. 

For some reason, all of my customers acted personally offended whenever I told them about my dislike for beer whenever they tried to buy me one - hoping to get on my good side. Plenty had tried to tell me that I would eventually acquire the taste for it, but I sincerely doubted that I would ever drink enough of the foul substance in order to do so. It was just too bitter...and that hoppy aftertaste...yuck.

"How many of those have you guys had?" I asked, grimacing as I watched her drink.

Simmons offered me one for a second time, but I turned her down again. She looked over at May and Ward; who both had one, and scoffed.

"Skye, it's important, when in the field, to unwind from time to time," she said.

"Yeah, yeah, especially after a hard day of everyone almost dying," Fitz added. I rolled my eyes and showed them the new bottle of whiskey I had dug out. 

Coulson walked up behind me as I opened it and took a sip straight from the bottle.

"Which doesn't happen every day, right? It's an anomaly, an irregularity. Not, the norm," Simmons stated, though she didn't sound very confident about that. I took a larger gulp of whiskey. 

"Speaking of "not the norm", whose idea was it to blow a hole in the plane?" I swallowed down an even larger portion of my drink at this, wishing again that I could actually feel the affect.

"May said that the doors were tied to the pressurization so I thought –" I started to say.

"So we thought it was the only way to release them," Simmons corrected. I sent her a smile of gratitude.

"It was everyone's idea, sir," Ward stated, surprising me. 

"Yeah, quite genius, really," Fitz boasted.

"Nice work," Coulson said after a long pause.

"All clear for liftoff," said a voice over the loudspeaker.

"Oh, time for blastoff!" Fitz exclaimed. He pinched his nose closed - giving him a funny sound to his voice. "Launching in three, two..." I giggled at his boyish antics as we watched the rocket take flight in front of us.

"The trajectory will take it beyond the Lagrange Point so that it doesn't hit Herschel," Fitch told us.

"And there haven't been any coronal mass ejections, so it shouldn't lose telemetry," added Simmons. 

Ward looked at them. "Guys, English."

We all watched the rocket fly away and I smiled as I saw Ward clap Fitz on the back. He seemed to be slowly getting used to working as a part of a team - and so was I, now that I thought about it. It was a strange feeling, having been trained like Ward, to always work alone.

3rd Person POV

"Really? Really, Coulson? Six Days?"

Coulson kept his face neutral as he listened to his boss lecture him.

"It only took you six days to take a completely renovated piece of state-of-the-art machinery and turn it into scrap?!" Director Fury shouted.

"My team acted with my authority," Coulson replied, trying not to show any emotion.

"Don't talk to me about authority. Do you know how much this plane costs? It's got a bar! A really nice one...Talking to me about authority. You know, I have the authority to downgrade your ass to a Winnebago."

"I'm aware of that, sir."

"Well, I want it fixed just like you found it. So don't have Fitz-Simmons going making modifications, like a-a-a damn fish tank," Fury said, pointing an angry finger at Coulson.

"Yes, sir."

Fury started to walk past him but stopped.

"And the new girl, Billy - Skye, or whatever she calls herself, she has a habit of disappearing - make sure that doesn't! She's special," said Fury, not wanting the potential recruit he had been searching months for to run off again.

"I know, sir."

"You know, sir?" Fury mimicked back, sarcastically. "Do you? Do you know how pissed Stark and the others are going to be if they ever find out that she's on board this plane and no one told them? Don't you dare let that happen! If you do, I'll tell them you are still alive and you can deal with the fallout yourself!"

Coulson shivered at the very thought, having finally agreed with Fury that it was for the best that he keep his existence a secret for now - knowing how insanely ticked off everyone would be when they eventually found out. But he didn't understand why Fury was so worried. They'd find out sooner or later, just hopefully later rather than sooner. But considering Fury was the one who had talked him begrudgingly into keeping his distance in the first place, he didn't understand why he would threaten to spill the beans now.

"What's their connection to Skye? What does she have to do with any of this? She can't possibly be worth you opening up that whole can of worms!"

"That's need-to-know, and you don't need to know. How's Lola?" Fury asked, attempting to direct Coulson's attention away from the new girl. He knew that the less people who knew about her and her powers, the better. He trusted Coulson more than anyone else, but he was not going to risk Hydra getting their hands back on such a powerful individual.

Coulson gave a little smile, knowing better than to push Fury for an answer. "She's fine, sir. Thanks for asking."

"Talking to me about authority," he heard Fury muttering under his breath as he left the room.

Coulson's smile faltered as he put his finger to his earpiece. "Yeah, we're gonna have to kill the fish tank!" he said sadly.

********************************************

In-Line Comments

\- Let me know what you thought of this latest chapter!  
\- No, I'm not getting rid of Skye's Rising Tide connection, just toning it down to where she and Miles are just friends and making it so that Skye knows about the group, but didn't learn from Miles or hack for the Rising Tide.   
\- I'm thinking about revealing her wings in the next episode and or just having it to where she warns Miles to stop what he's doing and it gets misinterpreted - that way Ward still doesn't think she's very capable when he starts training her and she gets sent in undercover. Let me know what y'all think about that!


	7. The Asset (Part 1)

Skye's POV

I spent the later half of my morning laying in bed, trying to think of how to proceed now that Ward had begun "training" me to become a field agent. Apparently, Coulson had told Ward that he thought I could turn out to be a great agent; though I had a feeling it had more to do with his conversation with Fury. I knew Nick had spoken to him about not damaging The Bus again and it looked like he hadn't mentioned my powers to Coulson yet; which I found both relieving and irritating at the same time, but had asked him to recruit me as he had been trying for a while now.

I was glad to not have to worry about everyone mistrusting me, but it also meant that I now had to pretend to be a complete dunce while Ward taught me skills that I already knew. 

It also had the added unpleasantness of serving as one giant reminder of everything I had gone through with Hydra's trainers. I was finding it extremely hard to breath after my very first morning session with Ward; not because it had been physically exhausting, but because I kept getting nasty flashbacks every time I closed my eyes. 

I sighed heavily as I got out of bed; purposefully making sure to be late for our next round.

I walked down the spiral staircase as slowly as possible, watching Ward hitting the punching bag he had set up. He looked up at me and halted.

"You know, you're late," he said. Even though I had knowingly been late, I couldn't help cringing, as I remembered what used to happen if I was ever late to a session with my Hydra trainers.

"I'm tired from the mornings workout. I thought I was joining Shield, not 24 hour fitness," I snapped back, slightly enjoying being able to act like the normal rookies I had watched being trained separately from me - ya know, the ones who had actually volunteered and wanted to be there.

I stepped up to the punching bag and Ward stood next to me.

"It's called relative strength training, starting with the basics." I rolled my eyes as Ward took my hand and fixed the tape I had intentionally messed up putting on. I had been taught very well that it was important to pay attention to the small details when going undercover; as they were usually what got a person caught. I was finding it harder and harder not to slip up though, not used to having to factor in things like friends and emotions.

"And next time you do 15 push-ups for every minute you're late." Ward looked at me as he dropped my wrist and picked up the other one, waiting to see how I would respond.

"Fine, Mr. Fun Machine. Whatever you say!" I said as sarcastically as I could, not noticing the sudden gleam of lust that had flashed across Ward's face at my words.

He stopped messing with the tape on my hands and took a fighting position facing the bag. "Stand here," he pulled his hands up high, near his face, "and jab, cross, like this."

I waited impatiently as he showed me how he wanted me to hit. All I wanted to do was punch right through the bag, but alas, I couldn't...for now. Least not while someone was watching.

"10 minutes," he told me as he backed up and let me move in closer.

I hit the bag, for the first time in my life, trying not to hit it as hard as I could.

"You know the hardest part about boxing?"

"Getting punched in the face?" I said smirking as I thought of how satisfying it would be to do just that to him right now.

"Keeping your hands up." Not when you have super strength and killer stamina! 

I looked over into the lab. Both Fitz and Simmons were wearing lab coats. Fitz had an aerosol can in his hands and was spraying it -showing a laser line, as Simmons looked at Ward and I.

I continued to hit the bag; pretending to be weak, as Ward walked around to stand on the opposite side of the bag and held it for me.

"There will come a moment when you have to commit to this or bail. Every field agent has a defining moment. Ask Coulson. When you have to make the hard call to either dedicate yourself to this or to curl up in a ball and run."

I stopped hitting and looked at Ward with a playful grin.

"How can you run if you're curled up in a ball?" I said as I went back to hitting, trying to not think over the defining moments of my life - all of which involved Hydra.

"It's my job as your S.O.to make sure you don't die before then," Ward responded grimly. 

I needed a serious distraction in order to refocus my brain as I continued to punch; a little harder this time. "So what's yours, Agent Ward?"

"10 minutes," Ward said, looking at his watch, trying to ignore my question. I could sense he didn't want to talk about it - so of course, I asked again.

"Your defining moment?" He stayed silent so I stopped hitting. "Come on, tell me. I want to know." There was a long pause so I went back to punching. "I can get Coulson to give you some of that truth serum. You could spill your little heart out to me again." I smirked as I remembered how he had turned to putty in my hands.

"You mean my level one overshare that miraculously got you to cooperate?" He can't take the credit for my cooperation,  
considering it had nothing to do with him at all; though I had quite enjoyed being given the opportunity to watch him squirm! "I hate to tell you this, rookie, but we don't have a truth serum," he added on, trying to save face. 

I snickered inwardly at this; knowing exactly what he was trying to do. I knew for a fact that it existed, since Hydra had used it on me several times.

There was a ding overhead and May's voice came over the speakers. "Changing course, briefing in three."

Fitz-Simmons, Ward, and I all walked up the stairs as May continued to speak over the Intercom.

"Shield 616 with new orders. Set for Colorado air field north."

We headed to the living room area of the plane; where Fitz-Simmons took seats on a couch as Ward and I stayed standing. A few minutes later Coulson entered from the opposite side of the room and explained the situation.

It turned out that a Shield transport had been attacked while carrying a priority red protected asset; a Canadian physicist named Dr. Franklin Hall, who was apparently Fitz-Simmons's chemical kinetics advisor a few years back. Even better than that, was the news that the people who had attacked the transport team were supposedly invisible.

"Wait, invisible?" I said, laughing in amusement. "Cool!" If only that was one of my powers. I could have used it to escape from Hydra a long time ago...

I looked at Ward, who clearly shared none of my humor or excitement. I dropped the smile from my face. "But terrible," I added.

********************************************

"Dr. Hall was an asset?" I asked Coulson after we had touched down in Sterling, Colorado and as were walking down a dark street.

"One of a few select scientists Shield has been protecting, people our enemies would love to get their hands on. We keep them hidden, keep them on the move," Coulson explained to me.

"Which is why Fitz and I were so lucky to have him," said Simmons.

"And, what does priority red mean?" I asked, though pretty sure I knew the answer but wanting to give my newbie routine more fuel to add to the fire.

Coulson glanced at me as we all paused where we stood. "It means security should have been..." His words trail off as we heard the groaning of metal. We looked up to see one of the SUVS inside a tree.

"Heavy..." Coulson finished saying.

Since I didn't really know what to do with myself at the moment, I stood off and watched as Coulson and May went to go speak with the driver; who was still alive, but had gotten banged up in the crash, while Fitz and Simmons did something sciency as they scanned the area with their tech.

"Fitz, what am I seeing here?" Simmons suddenly called out, grabbing all of our attention.

Well, I'm not wearing the full-spectrum goggles I designed, so – no clue," Fitz responded.

We all slowly wandered over to where Simmons stood.

"No, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait, don't move!" she cried out when we got close. She looked down at the ground in front of Fitz's feet. "Wait a second." She then picked up some rocks off the road and threw them into the air where they gather together swirling all around each other like a tornado.

"What in the hell?" I exclaimed.

"I think the electro-static field scanner activated some...thing," Simmons said, smiling.

Everyone ducked as the batch of rock and dirt went flying every which way, taking out one of the lights as it did so.

Fitz-Simmons finally managed to stop it and it all died out. Simmons bent down to the ground and picked some sort of small sphere up off the ground using tweezers. 

"That did all this," she said, holding it out to Coulson.

"What is that?" I asked.

"Something big," said Coulson.

********************************************

"Either someone cracked our comm system or Dr. Hall's movements leaked from inside Shield," I heard Coulson telling May once we were back on The Bus.

"You really think we have a mole?" May asked.

My ears perked up to this so I turned my head to listen - but didn't look at them.

"I think you should go through the communication logs, rule it out. We'll work the tractor tread that we found on the scene."

I leaned back from the table. "I can do that, instead of pull-ups. I can upload an image of the tread pattern and check to see if there's any sort of –" I got interrupted by none other than Ward.

"Already done. Matched it to a 2010 model. Found a list of purchasers within a 500 mile radius. Narrowed down to those with priors, financial troubles or propensity for risk-taking." Ward pulled out what he found on a screen in the lab. He hit a button on his tablet and pointed. "Three suspects."

"Who may have sold their construction equipment to the kidnappers. We'll ask, said Coulson.

Ward exited the room, soon followed by Coulson.

"Hey."

I turned my attention to May. She dropped a giant binder into my waiting arms.

"Do you want me to bench press this?" I said laughing.

"Read it. Every communication out of HQ since they decided to transfer Dr. Hall."

May walked away, leaving me shocked at the size of the binder.

"Hang in there, doc. It's gonna be awhile."

I began to sift through the binder as Coulson and Ward went to go track down our three suspects. 

I then joined Fitz-Simmons in the lab as they went over their news about what had caused the damage to the transport team.

"Gravitonium. It's so extremely rare that most people didn't believe it existed , much less the theory that an isolated positive charge –" Simmons was saying.

"Would turn the flow from isotropic –" Fitz continued.

I stopped them. "Guys, non-scientist here. How does the device work again?"

Fitz looked over to Simmons for help, she complied. She got out of her seat and walked to the picture of the atom on the monitor; going into school teacher mode as she explained how Gravitonium distorts gravity fields within itself, causing an undulating amorphous shape.

I was still confused by the end of her explanation but I did manage to grasp that the substance or whatever it was, was able to randomly change the rules of gravity around it.

"Yeah, and guess which genius published every theory about gravitonium and possible applications, years ago," Simmons stated. The pieces were starting to click into place.

"Dr. Franklin Hall," I stated.

"Yes. Correct. And Dr. Hall attended the University of Cambridge at the same time as Ian Quinn," Fitz-Simmons said. Coulson and Ward had managed to learn that it was Ian Quinn who had been behind the kidnapping.

I headed up the stairs, towards where I heard Coulson and Ward talking. May and Fitz-Simmons joined and we all converged in the Planning Room, everyone worrying about how we were supposed to get into Quinn's compound without a large Shield strike force or a man inside.

"He's got Neodymium laser fencing surrounding the property," Ward was saying.

"They'll never allow a strike force into Malta. Plus, this weekend, Quinn Worldwide's got its annual shareholders gathering. We'd risk global outrage, but –" said Coulson.

"If we go in alone –" May said.

"Shield can disavow us, claim ignorance," Coulson said, nodding.

I laughed at Fitz's suggestion of getting a monkey to slip through the sensors and disable the fence's power source with his adorable little hands.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone, quickly punching buttons.

"I could go in," I suggested, not that anyone seemed to hear...

"Drop me in the hills outside of Valletta. I'll spend a few weeks establishing a cover, gathering intel –" Ward suggested.

"Hall doesn't have a few weeks," said Coulson, shooting down that plan.

"And to restate, any agent of Shield caught on Maltese soil can be shot to death with bullets –" Simmons restated.

I had been leaning against the wall, but now I stood up straighter and tried again.

"Not me. I could go in!" They all finally looked at me.

"Skye, this is serious," Ward rolled his eyes, scoffing. I crossed my arms. He really needs to stop underestimating me!

"Wait," Coulson said, looking at me as he walked closer. "What are you saying?"

"Well, I'm not an agent of Shield, so I could go in without breaking all these stupid rules," I waved a hand around as I pulled my phone back up and continued typing.

"International laws," Simmons clarified.

"This isn't something you can hack, Skye!" Ward said.

"Did you hear the deadly lasers part? Without a brave monkey –" Why's he so fixated on a monkey?!

"You said you could go in with a man inside," I pointed out.

"And you want to be that man?" May looked at me in surprise. It was times like this that I wished they knew what I could do. It was almost offensive the way they kept assuming I wasn't capable of doing anything.

"Fitz-Simmons loved the guy, and he needs help. They could be torturing him, or worse, making him do strength-training." I shot Ward a look at this then went back to typing on my phone.

"But you don't have the background or clearance or experience with any of this," said Ward, walking away from the table to stand closer to me. I may not have the clearance, but I have the background and experience for sure!

"I know," I said, pretending that he was right as I held up my phone to show them the screen. "But I've got an invitation!" I smirked as everyone stared at me. I looked back at the screen. "Well, technically it's an e-vite."

3rd Party POV

"Are you worried about her safety or her loyalty?" Coulson asked as Ward argued with him over the decision to send Skye on a covert op.

"Both. Who knows how many protocols she violated," Ward said.

"That's her job. Ignore protocol, find connections and back doors that nobody else can see. Something else is bother you," Coulson stated.

Ward sighed and walked a few paces away.

"She's holding back, sir. She says she wants to be an agent, but she won't commit. She doesn't listen, makes jokes. She's hiding something. She only seems to truly be trying when she thinks no one is watching."

"Were you hard on her?" Coulson said, raising his brows.

"Sure. I tried playing nice, too. I need a new strategy."

"Try no strategy. Stop thinking like an operative, start thinking like a person. Maybe Skye will let that person help her."

"Help her what?"

"Help her think like an operative."

Skye's POV

"Now, again, slowly, what's first?" Ward said, gritting his teeth in frustration as he pointed a gun at me. I looked at his wrist then took a hold of it as I spun myself so that Ward's gun arm was over my shoulder and my back to his chest. I wasn't going to make this easy for him though, considering his current attitude towards me.

"And then?" he asked.

"Then? Things are moving too quickly. I'm a proper southern girl. You'll make me untidy!" I said jokingly using a southern accent. In reality, I knew at least 30 different ways I could have disarmed him, but when his attitude was increasingly sour towards me, I wasn't going to help him by doing it right. In fact, by giving him such a hard time, I was actually making him a better teacher - so when you think about it, he should be thanking me!

Ward let out a sigh as he took my hand and placed it on top of his holding the gun. "Twist the thumb, palm the barrel. You're gonna die and leave us hanging out to dry, you know that? You're going in with no self-defense skills –" I should knock him on his ass and teach him a lesson!

"I have a few tricks up my sleeve," I said with a smirk.

"You need muscle memory, fundamentals, the tools to turn yourself –"

"Into a whole bag of tools?" I finished for him. I already am.

"How did you learn computer science without committing yourself to it?" I was forced to sit in a locked room for hours and hours without food or water until I finally learned to hack the lock open or complete whatever new task Hydra had set me...

"C.S. comes naturally to me. I'm sorry I'm not a naturally whatever you are," I said, not telling him the real explanation.

This made him angry as I knew it would. "You think this came naturally? I had a brother who beat the crap out of me, me and my little brother, for nothing. For eating a piece of his birthday cake. I had to learn to protect us, the way I am trying to protect you."

For once, I didn't have anything flippant to say.

"That was my moment. You asked."

"Sorry. I didn't mean to push." There was a moment where we just stared at each other. However, I broke the tension by holding up Ward's gun. "But I did manage to take this."

Ward tried to cover up how impressed he was as he took the gun from me.

"Getting the gun is one thing. Pulling the trigger, that is another."

He once again pointed the gun at my chest. I tried not to remember all the times I had been shot in the past.

********************************************

"The perimeter is surrounded by a 20 foot high neodymium laser grid. Touch it and you're toast," Fitz said when we had all reconvened in the Planning Room.

"Dead toast. The only way to disable the grid is to crack the system and trigger a reboot. This would give the team three seconds to cross. Of course Quinn's too smart to allow any wireless access on his property," responded Coulson.

"That's where I come in," I stated.

Simmons opened a case that was sitting on the table.

"Yes, working compact – holds up under x-ray," Simmons said.

"Desert Rose, to match your complexion," said Fitz.

I smiled at him.

"But, oh, what's this?" he showed me the mirror of the compact, it now had five red dots on it.

"A read out, okay?" The lights switched from five red on the left side to five green on the right side.

"Turns green if you're in close enough proximity to a computer to gain wireless access."

"When it does you just drop this nearby and walk out. We'll do the rest. Easy as pie." I'm not a scientist, but I''m not a total idiot! Hydra may not have ever let me out on any actual missions or undercover assignments, but that didn't mean they hadn't drilled into me exactly how to handle various scenarios and tech equipment.

"Or it will be, if you stick to the plan," said Ward, racking his gun and causing a distinct click.

"Got it. Plan, green, drop, walk...pie." I held out my hand as Fitz gave me the compact. 

"All right team, suit up," Coulson said.

********************************************

In-Line Comments

\- Let me know what you think so far! And if anyone has any preference to which Avenger Soulmate Skye should run into later on when she's at the hub let me know! I'm thinking maybe Steve; and or Bucky, since he could be showing him around the place or Tony/Natasha or Clint - or all of them there for various reasons?


	8. The Asset (Part 2)

Skye's POV

I got out of the taxi, smoothing out my pink dress and feeling my curled hair as I walked forward to the front door. This was the nicest I could ever remember looking. Hydra having never splurged on clothes for me...

A waitress stopped by me with a tray of Champaign, so I took one with a mumbled, "thank you."

The waitress walked away and I headed deeper into the party, sipping on my Champaign and taking it all in. 

"Hors D'oeuvre, Madame?" My eyes went wide at the way he addressed me, but I took some sort of skewer off the tray and continued walking, until a man's voice stopped me.

"Who are you?"

I quickly turned around to face the man. He was an older gentleman - I noticed a younger one striding over when he saw that I was being addressed.

"Oh, apologies for his manners. He knows very little English."

"Oh, that, uh, that's – what, whatever."

I waved away the apology, extending my hand to the older man for a handshake.

"Skye."

He slowly reached out and shook my hand.

"Qasim Zaghlul."

"Big fan. You built half of Dubai, including the Arabian Blade!" I said, listening to the voice in my ear as the man gave the tiniest of smirks. "I love that building, it's super sci-fi. Where's your wife..."

"Wife's name is Nadrah," May told me quickly.

"...Nadrah? Is she staying at home with the boys?" I added as May filled me in on his twin sons.

The man nodded his head and told me what a pleasure it was to meet me.

"The pleasure is mine," I hastily answered, touching him lightly on the arm as I laughed and turned away.

"I could get used to this, people. It's like Siri if it worked!" I told May and anyone else who was listening in on the other end.

"Skipper to Bravo, I got eyes on top dog. The eagle is landing on it."

"What are you doing?" Simmons asked, confused.

"Uh, sorry, I – I don't know. I see Quinn, I'm gonna go talk to him." It's not like Hydra really taught me how to use radio/earpiece talk! They had wanted to train me to eventually not need anyone talking in my ear; so I never spoke to anyone during their simulation tests.

I headed off towards Ian Quinn, making sure to position myself in his path.

"I mean, that and it's effective on the industrial average," he was saying as I joined his group. I laughed along with his friends; trying to blend in.

"That was good," one of the men said.

"Yeah, right? Ian Quinn. I'm your last minute party crasher. Skye," I interjected, introducing myself and shaking his hand.

"Oh," he said, chuckling. "Wow. Great to meet you." He turned to address the others in the group around him. “This is Skye, she's a member of The Rising Tide. They're a group of hackers.”

They all looked at me. I gave a little wave, not used to the attention.

"She's gotten some pretty big secrets out to the public," Quinn added.

"I prefer "Hacktivist". I'm glad you've heard of their site - but just to be clear, I'm not actually a member of the group. I've just used their site to post a few things in the past," I clarified, not wanting to be associated with The Rising Tide - yes, I had used their site to release a few articles I had found while sifting through Hydra's records that I had felt important for the public to know, but I definitely wasn't a member of Miles's group. 

"I read your posts. We think very much alike, more freedom of information, less government infringing on everyone's rights, I'm a fan," Quinn said, raising his brows when I told him that I wasn't involved with The Rising Tide as closely as he had thought.

"That explains the invite. This is a tough party to get into!" I said.

"Not as hard to get into as the encrypted back channel you contacted us through to request the invite."

I laughed, feeling a sense of pride.

"You have got to show me how you did that, I mean, if you sign on,” he continued.

I looked to the others, then back to him. This totally threw me off.

"Sign what, now?"

"I've been known to turn a few black hats into white hats. Not just for vulnerability analysis, but for very creative thinking." I stared at him.

"A-Are you offering me a job?" I had definitely not been expecting that!

"Well I didn't invite you here for your pretty face, doll. I didn't know you had a pretty face. Yes, I want to hire you - before The Rising Tide or someone else snatches you up!"

He walked away from the group, leaving me looking shocked. My earpiece crackled and I heard May's voice.

"That seemed to go well."

"Yeah, it did."

Once again, I turned my back to the other people standing there, feeling slightly uncomfortable in such a large crowd. 

I took another drink as the people at the party started to clap. Quinn had gone up to a platform in order to address them all. 

I tuned him out as he welcomed his shareholders and started talking about how government agencies were guilty of halting the development of new technology for everyone but themselves.

I looked around making sure that everyone was watching Quinn before I began to move away towards the house.

I entered and headed down a hallway, looking for a signal for the compact Fitz had given me. I stopped outside a set of double doors but when I pushed on them, they wouldn't open.

"It's locked, but there's no lock!" I exclaimed. If it hadn't been for the open hallway that I knew was behind me, I would have been sent into a panic, flashing back to all the times Hydra had kept me imprisoned in rooms that only opened from the outside. I shivered, despite the warm weather.

"Eh, check for a keypad," I heard Fitz suggest through my earpiece.

I leaned to the left side of the door, then the right, looking.

"Nothing. I can't see any keypad for me to hack."

"Wait, you can hack a keypad?" Fitz asked in surprise.

"Of course! But I can't find one!" 

"Is there a reception desk?" May cut in.

I glanced to my right and saw a small desk set up in the hallway. I walked towards it. 

"Okay, yeah," I told them when I got to the desk. But what was I supposed to be looking for? I had never seen a set up like this at any of the Hydra bases I had been kept at! Damnit! I can't fail my first real assignment! I had thought I would be able to do this easily, but forgotten to take into account how little I still knew about the world outside of Hydra! Was I becoming like Ward? Thinking that I was better than I actually was? 

I got to the desk, looking down at it glumly. "Well, now what do I do?"

"What are you trying to do?" I barely caught myself in time to not jump as I looked over to see Quinn staring at me. I slowly set down my glass and stared at the desk.

"Just...looking for a pen!" I said, chuckling nervously as I took one from a cup and held it up to him. "Here we go." I laughed again, but from the fake smile on Quinn's face, I could tell he was not buying what I was selling. "Got to write down all those good ideas, you know what I mean? Of course you know what I mean. You probably have like 10 pens for all your ideas," I said, beginning to ramble like a lunatic. If I get out of this alive, I am definitely training harder! I clearly am not as good at this undercover stuff as I thought. Fighting, sure. But my acting really sucked right now. 

"What are you really doing?" Quinn demanded to know.

I paused, as I suddenly realized something. I may not be good at lying, but there were ways that I could spin that weakness into an advantage. 

"All right. I'm busted. I was trying to get a glimpse behind your office doors, see how things really operate." I said, more confidently.

He took a few steps closer to me and reached out a hand - sliding one of my soft curls through his fingers.

"I invite you here as a guest, yet you treat me like another corrupt institution, looking for trade secrets to leak online?" He backed up, letting the strand of my hair fall back into place as he put his phone near his mouth. "Security."

"No, no, no, wait!" I said, trying to keep calm as I focused on the plan that had come to me.

He lowered the phone down.

"It's just with all these la-di-da people, you have to be so guarded, so careful. What you say, what secrets you reveal..." I leaned down to the desk, using the pen to write something down on the notepad that was there. "And...I was hoping that you and I could be honest with one another. If you know what I mean." 

I held up the piece of paper I had been writing on - which now said: SHIELD is listening. 

His face turned serious as he nodded his head in understanding. I guess having to deal with Hydra's love for mind games was a good thing? I thought, trying to see the silver lining as Quinn led me past the doors I had been trying to get open just moments ago.

"My office had less space, more wheels. Wow. A view of the ocean and the pool!" I had to admit, this room was amazing!

"Not a bad place to do business," Quinn responded.

I paused and handed my earpiece to him as part of my plan - and watched as he dropped it into the champaign glass. I just hoped the others wouldn't freak out when they noticed my audio feed had cut out!

"Much better. Haven't felt that "someone's watching my every move" feeling since I failed my driver's test," I said, sighing as I secretly thought about the real answer being the day I had escaped from Hydra.

"You want to tell me what the hell is going on?" said Quinn, picking up the glass and looking at the earpiece. "Shield got to you?"

"They picked me up in L.A., I helped them in a crisis, and now they want to recruit me," I said, continuing to use as much of the truth as possible to help me sound believable. 

"Of course they do," Quinn said, setting the glass back down.

"So, I played along, talk about inside info, I have a bunk on their plane. I've been gathering intel, biding my time until I could become useful. I thought this qualified," I fibbed, finding I was a lot more relaxed and comfortable - and more importantly, convincing, using half-truths.

"Why would they trust you with a covert operation like this?"

"Something about Shield not breaking international laws. They had no other options, whereas I like to keep mine open," I said, joining him on the couch with a sly grin as Quinn started to let his guard down - looking at me in a manner that made me want to squirm when he slid himself closer to me. I watched his hand nervously as he slowly let it drift onto the exposed skin of my leg. I inwardly cringed as I thought wistfully of the jeans I had been wearing until Simmons all but forced me into the dress I was currently wearing. 

It wasn't that Ian Quinn was ugly; he was quite attractive now that I thought about it, but after everything Hydra's men had done, it was hard to think of being physical with anyone. Especially not a man like Ian Quinn, who was clearly working on the wrong side of the law. 

Though, if I was being honest, there were nights where my mind drifted off into the realm of possibilities when I thought of Steve or Tony and the others, but I made sure to quickly disregard those thoughts whenever they popped up! It was crazy to even think such things might be possible. As if any of them would be interested in someone like me! Assuming they ever forgave me for running away after they had helped me so much!

”You're saying they wanted to rope me in because I pose a genuine threat?” I looked at Quinn with curious eyes; thinking that he may have a point.

“Yes, and fit their profile.”

“Profile?” What was he talking about?

”Sure. You're a criminal. You have a warrant somewhere,” I guess I probably did considering how many agencies I had hacked while searching for any information on who I was before Hydra had taken me.

“Probably,” I said, scoffing.

“Specialized skill set,” he continued, scooting even closer to me. 

“I try to stay humble, but fail,” I grinned.

“No family,” I frowned at this and lowered my eyes for a moment. None that I can seem to find...

“I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hit a nerve, but that is what these people do. Shield,” he said, leaning in close as he started playing with my hair again. “They prey on fear and loneliness and desperation, and then they offer a home to those who have no one else to turn to. I can offer you something better.”

Was he right? It did seem to describe what had happened to me over the last week or so. But they seem to genuinely care! But I was lying to them everyday...and for all I knew, they could be doing the same to me...was Shield just another version of Hydra?! 

“Stay with us, there's no secrets, no lies and no agenda. You're free to do what you do without big brother watching over you.” I sighed; liking the sound of that. I also couldn’t help but sigh again as Quinn ran his hands through my hair, smirking as he noticed how I seemed to like it. I couldn’t help myself, I’d never had anyone play with my hair like this before! Wow, no wonder Natasha didn’t want me to stop when I had played with her hair!

“But first, you have to tell me exactly what agenda Shield sent you in here with.” I blinked as his words reminded me of why I was here and what I was supposed to be doing. Ward and Coulson were counting on me, and even if they did turn out to be just like Hydra, I wasn’t, and I certainly wouldn’t, be the cause for their death at the hands of Quinn’s guards if I could prevent it.

“Well, they wanted me to do whatever it took to get in here,” I said, opening up the purse I had been given and pulling out the compact - opening it up to see that the dots on the left side of the mirror were red.

“Get in here and...?” Quinn prompted, stroking one of his fingers down the side of my cheek.

The lights on the mirror suddenly went green as I pretended to be fixing the eye liner that Simmons had made me put on. I wasn’t exactly faking it when I rubbed some of it out; not being used to wearing makeup and finding it a little uncomfortable. 

“Bat my eyes,” I told Quinn as I closed the compact and set it on the table, leaning slighty into him in the hopes that he wouldn’t think much about the compact. “Get you talking,” I continued to say as I looked into Quinn’s eyes. I could see the hungry gleam in them and knew that I was playing a very dangerous game - but I didn’t have many options at the moment.

“No, you can't be the only angle. Shield’s thorough enough to know about me and my exploits. It takes more than a pretty face to disarm me,” Quinn said, though I could tell that he was resisting the urge to kiss me, which I was grateful for.

We looked up as a large man entered the room.

“Sir, we have a security breach!” He informed Quinn. Shit! Quinn got off the sofa quickly.

“Oh, the timing on that was perfect,” I said with a small laugh.

Quinn let out a sigh as he picked up the compact and broke it in two, then threw the pieces down to the floor. I watched anxiously as he turned to the large man, patted his chest, and then pulled out his gun and pointed it at me. 

Quinn pushed me against the wall with one hand holding my neck and the other holding the gun to my head.

“Don't you get it? Shield’s against everything you stand for. They're Big Brother!” Quinn said, trying to make me see reason, but instead, his words reminded me of what Ward had told me earlier.

“Maybe. But they're the nice Big Brother who stands up for his helpless little brother when he's getting beat up because he ate a piece of cake that he wasn't...” I started rambling, half of my mind focused on trying to decide if I could risk using my powers or if I should just take his gun and hope he didn’t call my bluff. Quinn was looking at me lost. “You know...you kidnapped a person!” I argued back at him.

Quinn got upset when I said this, stepping back and releasing me. “I set him free! I saved him!”

I massaged my neck, knowing that a bruise was most likely already forming and hoping that it healed before anyone on the team ended up seeing it.

“And I could've saved you,” Quinn said, almost looking sad.

As Quinn raised the gun at me, the ground below us began to rock, causing everyone to lose their balance. Quinn got even more upset as he looked at me.

“Tell me what they're doing!”

I remained silent, schooling my face to look scared and helpless while my mind raced down the list of my possible escape options. Quinn lowered his voice and put a soft lilt to it. “Tell me what they're doing. You have to talk. You have no other way out of this.” He laughed as he aimed the gun at my face again. “You're expendable to Shield. They sent you in here with nothing.” 

His arm was sticking out defenseless as he pointed it at me; thinking that I was weak; so of course, I proved him wrong by quickly disarming him as I went with the non-power version of my escape plan. 

“They taught me a few things,” I said as I pointed the gun at Quinn and his guard. Well Hydra did...but Shield could too if I chose to stay...

“Kids got balls!” the guard said, sounding impressed as he suddenly looked me up and down.

“Thanks but, yuck,” I told him as I saw the lust in his eyes.

“But, do you have what it takes to pull the trigger?” Did I? Hydra had taught me how to use all kinds of weapons - and how to fight without them - and how to use the powers that they knew of - but I had thankfully avoided ever killing anyone...my eyes went wide as I suddenly realized that I didn’t want to start now...Some super-powered assassin I turned out to be! Can’t even kill. I sent another silent thank you to the universe that I had managed to rid myself of Hydra; not even wanting to contemplate what new horrors they would have come up with in order to bend me to their will when the time had arrived for me to kill for them and I wasn’t able to.

“Nope,” I said, tossing the gun to the ground and out of their reach before leaping off of the balcony behind me and into the pool below.

I hopped out of the pool, running past the frightened guests; noticing a helicopter heading off in the distance - Quinn must have fled.

I paused as I saw a couple of security guards appear from a flight of steps, and turned to run the other way. Another guard was coming up from that way though, blocking my escape. Before I could release my wings and fly up out of their reach, the two behind me latched onto me, pinning my arms to my side.

“Ya know, I don’t think the bossman would mind if we had a little fun with you before we handed you over...what d’ya think boys?!”

I shivered, guessing what the guard had in mind and not liking the grins on his friends faces. I was just about to break the two men’s arms who were holding me, when I saw Ward appear behind the one in front of me. He elbowed him in the face then hit him hard enough to knock him out. 

The other two guards released me and turned to fight Ward; who didn’t seem to need my help in taking them out. 

“Are you hurt?” I shook my head, not noticing the way he paused to watch a few droplets of water run down my chest as I heaved a sigh of relief.

“Thanks, definitely didn’t want to find out what their definition of “fun” was...in my experience it never is!” I said, not able to help the shiver that ran down my spine. Ward looked at me sharply, reading between the lines.

“Just follow my orders. I'll get us out of here,” he said, thankfully not choosing to comment about the guards.

He took my hand gently and lead me towards the house; where after a few minutes of searching, we finally managed to locate the lab where Coulson and Dr. Hall were. We pressed our faces against the little window on the door. My eyes widened as I saw the two men arguing while Coulson dangled in the air. I watched in surprise as he shot his gun into the window below the Dr.’s feet, sending him falling into the Gravitonium device thing...you know what I mean.

The undulating black mass enveloped Hall in slow motion, eventually covering his body and face. Once that happened everything in the room fell back into its proper place with gravity returned to normal – including, to my relief, Coulson. 

We opened the door and entered the lab. We all looked at the device. The undulating black mass was still as it was, no bigger after having absorbed Hall, and the rings slowed to a stop. I shot a look to Coulson, then glanced back at the device.

Later on that night; after we had safely loaded and unloaded the Gravitonium, I changed into my workout gear and went to go let out my frustrations on the punching bag. I hit hard, not knowing that Ward was watching me from above at first. When I did though, I didn’t lighten up. I had almost been forced into a situation that was all too familiar to me during my time spent with Hydra’s guards - and I had come to the realization that by constantly downplaying my abilities, I was actually making myself weaker for real. I would need to find a way to get in extra practice when I was alone, otherwise I actually would be useless to the team if I was ever sent in undercover again.

“You and your brothers, where'd you grow up?” I asked Ward as he came down the stairs and joined me at the bag. 

“Massachusetts, mostly,” he answered, holding the bag so that it stayed in place as I continued to punch; careful now so as not to punch right through and hit Ward on accident.

“A house?”

“You didn't?” 

“Let’s just go with the simplified answer of no...” I said, letting out a deep sigh. “Never had a family, and certainly never had any friends I could hope to call family.” I hit the bag again. “Hoping for something and losing it hurts more than never hoping for anything.

“We won't turn our back,” Ward said, looking at me with a strange look in his eyes. 

“Doesn't matter. I made my choice. I want this. Bad!” I said, continuing to hit the bag. “And I know there's a truth serum,” I added, hoping to lighten the mood.

“Whatever you say, Rookie.”

********************************************

In-Line Comments

\- let me know what your thoughts are so far! Unfortunately haven’t had any feedback yet so not sure how the story is turning out so far and where my readers are at in terms of understanding whats going on with my plans for the story overall and want to check in to make sure that it’s understandable?!


	9. The Girl in the Flower Dress (Part 1)

Skye's POV

"Every decision you make from here on out have consequences. So be warned..." Ward said, trying to sound intimidating. "The kiddie gloves are off!" Oh, I'm so scared...not!

"G7!" I said watching as Ward slowly closed his eyes in disappointment.

"Hit."

"Yes! Ha!" I said, punching the air. "So, explain to me again what this has to do with my training?" I asked. I couldn't understand it. Hydra would never have allowed anything like this.

"It's important for every S.O. to evaluate their student's thought process," Ward explained. I gave him a look, not sure if I believed it.

"Mm-Hmm."

"And I like board games. B10," Ward added.

"Nope. This isn't thinking, this is stabbing in the dark. But, it's nice to take a break from the workouts," I commented. I had been using the fact I never slept to my advantage to do two sets of training - the dulled down version with Ward, and my own secondary one when everyone was asleep - so that I could keep me and my powers up to speed.

"Well, you deserve a break."

I gave him a surprised look. Was that a compliment?!

"I got to give Coulson credit. I would never have pegged a hacker as a good fit, but – you're picking things up pretty fast."

I gave him a pleased smile. "Did you just give me a compliment?"

"I...no, I made a comment," Ward tried to recover.

"Yeah, a kind one!" I said while he tried to shrug it off. "Did it physically hurt to do that?" I laughed as I leaned forward with a worried look. "Do you need an icepack?" I giggled as I managed to make him laugh. "Wow! A compliment and a smile!" 

"Comment," Ward corrected quickly. I rolled my eyes.

"I don't want to ruin the moment, but I'm going to have to respond with...G4!"

Ward looked down at his board and what little grin was there disappeared, however, my own grin grew. Ward was wearing a pouting look as he sighed.

"Say it, Ward!" I leaned in close and wiggled my brows. "Say it!" 

When he spoke, his voice was low and he mumbled; though I also noticed a roughness to his voice as his eyes gleamed at me; taking in our proximity and my words. He finally said it. "You sank my battleship."

I laughed and pumped my arms into the air in excitement.

"Yes!"

Ward bent forward and reset his board. "All right, best 2 out of 3," He said.

"I beat you," I pointed out. We argued and teased each other as we set up our boards and started another round. I was quite surprised to find that we had been getting along rather well these last few weeks.

We looked up as the beep of an alarm rang through the lounge. We slowly got up and headed to the Planning Room to learn what our latest case would be along with the rest of the team.

"Chan Ho Yin. Just a struggling street performer until a few years ago, when Mr. Chan began to exhibit moderate pyrokinetic abilities," Coulson said as he began to fill us in.

"So what gave him powers?" asked Fitz. I looked over; curious to know as well, since I had a little control over fire myself - just nothing major yet since I refused to practice it.

"It's still under investigation, but Chan did live near the decommissioned Wan Tai Nuclear Plant when it caught fire. To our knowledge, no other nearby residents have exhibited similar traits," Coulson answered.

"So how did we find out about him?" Simmons inquired.

"Informants saw him lighting torches in a street show, with his pinkie," May responded.

"Brought it to Shield's attention. We told him to keep his abilities under wraps. He's been on The Index ever since," Coulson said.

"The Index?" What the hell was that? I looked around, starting to get worried.

"It's a list Shield keeps of people and objects with powers," Simmons told me; making me freak out on the inside. Was I on the list? 

"Wait! What? How many are there? Are you saying there are more people –" I exclaimed.

May was already shaking her head. "Not many," she said. I scoffed at this though.

"Well, enough to keep a list," I pointed out.

Coulson looked at me. "A short list, meant to protect them." Somehow the thought of my name getting on that list does not make me feel very safe...in fact, the opposite!

"Though in rare cases Shield has had to take action," said Ward, really not helping to calm my emotions.

"Action against objects or people?" I asked, not sure if I wanted to know the answer. 

The looks I got back told me what I needed to know. I felt queasy, suddenly feeling extremely glad that I had not revealed to them yet that I had powers.

"Well that's drastic with a side of creepy. How are they monitored? Tapped phone lines, satellite surveillance, body probes in dark, unpleasant places?" I said, doing my best to block out Hydra flashbacks.

"Mr. Chan was low risk. He was assigned a case agent who checked in with him every few days," Coulson said.

May was clicking buttons on a tablet and the feed on the big monitor behind Coulson changed.

"That's how we discovered him missing," Coulson finished saying.

"Hello Agent Kwan, how are you?" May asked.

"Not as good as I could be," Agent Kwan said.

"Everyone, this is Agent Kwan, Chan Ho Yin's case agent," May explained. "What can you tell us?"

"Not much, I'm afraid. Chan is a magician, so at first I thought he'd made himself disappear."

"The file says you'd caught him violating his Index Agreement before," Coulson stated.

"On two separate occasions. Claimed we were "hampering his artistic expression"." Agent Kwan replied. "But last night, he was taken by professionals. The only thing they left behind was this scrap of aluminized material."

"So, whoever took him knew about his power," Ward said.

"Yes, and we think we know why. Over the last few days tech division discovered a crack into our data stream. It's the same cyber punks who hacked us before."

My eyes lowered down to the table for a second, having a feeling I knew what was coming next and it wasn't going to be good.

"Somehow, they got in again. It's the Rising Tide," everyone at the table looked directly at me.

"Hello?" Agent Kwan asked into the silence.

They continued to stare at me, not saying anything.

"It got real quiet," Agent Kwan continued. "You guys still there?"

"The Rising Tide is a huge organization of hacktivists from all around the world. Any of them could have done this. It wasn't me! I meant what I said to Ian Quinn the other day, I don't hack for The Rising Tide!" I told them.

"No one's saying it was," Ward said.

"But you're thinking it. I can see your faces thinking it," I exclaimed.

"We're assessing the situation," Coulson said. 

"Then I'm sure you're taking into account that I have been living on a plane with you this whole time. It would be impossible for me to hack Shield!"

"Or easier. We're gonna need more than that," Coulson stated.

"Fine. Let me trace the hack and I'll prove it!" I argued.

Coulson leaned forward on his desk but Ward spoke before he could.

"I believe her, sir. And if she's telling the truth, we need to track down the person responsible," he said. I looked at him in surprise, giving him a tiny smile.

"Dig up something, and fast. The longer Mr. Chan's missing the more danger he's in," Coulson said, standing up and leaving the room. It was just me, Fitz, and Simmons now, both of who were watching me as I worked on a tablet; trying to track down the hacker. 

A few hours later, Coulson walked in. "How close are we?"

"Almost there," I told him as May and Ward joined us as well.

"She's identified the remote access Trojan and the infected endpoint," Fitz informed them. 

"Yeah, and is searching for a TCP to correlate the hypertext with signature information and then..." Simmons added.

"Bob's your uncle," Fitz finished for her.

"Voila!" Simmons exclaimed. I rolled my eyes at them as Coulson looked at Ward.

"You get any of that?"

"Only the uncle part," Ward replied.

"We got our origin – Austin, Texas," I told them, pulling it up on the table monitor so they could all see.

"You got a name?" I paused. I had a pretty good idea of who it was, but I wanted to talk to him myself first before Shied approached him. I owed him that much.

"Just the café our hacker worked out of, but I'm in the system. I'm going to check to see if any credit card charges from that day match up with any known hackers," I said, cringing on the inside as I withheld my suspicions. I looked down as my tablet beeped. "We got a hit." Well so much for keeping his name to myself. His picture was now plastered on the monitor.

"Miles Lydon, not Skye, that's to all our relief," Fitz said. 

"You know him?" Coulson looked over at me and I tried to come up with a good response that wouldn't reveal too much.

"Every hacker in the world knows him."

"Not just the hacker world. He infiltrated the Kremlin," Simmons said.

"Yeah, the picture of, uh, Putin shirtless on horseback, that was his hack," Fitz commented as the two of them smiled and giggled.

"It was also his hack that got Chan kidnapped," Ward pointed out. I frowned. That was true. I definitely needed to talk to Miles!

"May, set a course for Austin," Coulson said as May was punching something into her tablet.

"Just did," she responded.

"What about Chan?" I asked.

"Kwan's got a Shield team on the ground. Our best bet is to chase this thing from the other end. Find Mr. Lydon, bring him in, see what he knows." Miles is so screwed when I find him! What the hell has he gotten himself into now?!

********************************************

"Just left the café where Miles logged in. Cashier said she hasn't seen him in over a week," I said into my earpiece.

"I may have eyes on him," I heard Ward say. “I've been made. Heading east on 5th street. Target is now in a sliver Jetta,” Ward said.

“I got him,” Coulson spoke up. A few minutes later he added, “I lost him.” I ran off, pulling out my earpiece.

“You sure they're not following you?” I asked Miles as he entered his place and locked the door. I had my arms crossed as I glared at him.

“Yeah, had to pull out all the stops though,” Miles said. I continued to glare at him.

“Thanks for the text. Wait, are you mad?” He asked as he walked further into the apartment. I raised my brows at him. Really? What gave you that idea?!

“Are you kidding me? I don't have much time. Who did you leak those files to?” I hissed at him.

“Wait a sec, what? "Good to see you too, Miles". I released them into the world where they belong,” he said, stepping closer to me.

“They'll keep hunting you unless they have someone else to look for. And, why the hell would you hack Shield?!” I said, taking a step back.

“Because that's what we do,” he told me, following me as he moved forward again. 

“You could've ruined everything, you dumbass! You know how bad I am at lying! Yet, here I am, lying to my team trying to save your ass!”

“Seems like you handled it,” Miles said with a smirk, continuing to step closer to me. I moved back, not comfortable with the proximity.

“I've come too far for you to –” I trailed off when I looked at Miles only to see him staring at me with a grin. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

He walked even closer to me, still smiling; not seeming to notice how uncomfortable he was making me. I glanced over my shoulder as I took yet another step back, panicking slightly as I realized I was quickly running out of room.

“Did you just call me a "dumbass"?” he tilted his head at me with a smirk. 

“Stop smiling. I'm serious!” I told him.

“I'm sorry. I can't help it. I've been missing you like crazy,” he said, with another step towards me. 

“Seriously?” I said, surprised. I felt the wall pressing against my back as I took another step back; not liking the look he now had in his eyes. “Miles, what are you -” before I could finish my sentence, he had reached out and grabbed me; pulling me in and kissing my lips. I froze. I pushed on his chest, trying to get him to back down. “Stop, Miles. We’ve been over this before! We’re just friends!”

He paused as he leaned back to look me up and down; eyes filled with lust, and it was then that I realized that he had alcohol on his breath. Crap! I really have the worst luck!

“You are such a tease! I think I have waited patiently for long enough! It’s about time I finally get what I want!” Before I knew what was happening, he had backhanded me hard across the face. Bastard! He is so going to regret that!

But just as I was about to break his wrist, I felt my air supply getting cut off as one of his hands wrapped tightly around my throat, the force slamming my head against the wall. I barely noticed the plaster now caught in my hair; or the head-shaped hole now in the wall, as I tried to blink my starry vision away. I had not expected Miles to be this strong! Then again, I had seen plenty of people defy appearances under the influence of alcohol during my time as a bartender. I had never seen this side of Miles, though. He had been nothing but kind to me - at least I had thought.

But as I managed to break free and headed for the locked door, Miles surprised me yet again. I clapped a hand to my neck as I felt a sharp prick. As I twisted around to look at Miles, I felt the tip of the needle scrape along the side of my neck, drawing blood. 

“What the hell was that?!” I exclaimed as I stumbled, already starting to feel the effects of whatever had just been injected into my bloodstream. I frowned as I felt my energy draining quickly, wondering in the back of my mind why my metabolism wasn’t burning through it.

“Oh, this? Just a little concoction I mixed up a while back to help you get in the mood. You didn’t give me a chance to test it out last time we talked, so let’s hope I didn’t make it too strong! I want you to enjoy this as much as I do!” I blinked up at Miles, his face swimming in and out of focus as I stumbled again.

He caught me before I fell to the ground and I tensed up as he slowly unbuttoned my shirt, tossing it unceremoniously to the floor as he swept me up into his arms. My head swam and my limbs felt like noodles as he carried me into his bedroom. I struggled to get up when he set me on his bed, but I flopped back down as my vision darkened. What the hell was in that syringe! 

I tried to fight back as he pulled off my shoes and socks and then yanked down my pants, but my eyelids were getting heavier and heavier with each passing second and he evaded my weak attempts with ease as he clambered on top of me.

The last thing I remembered was him mumbling under his breath about making whatever he had injected me with too strong before I passed out.

********************************************

“That's where you keep that, huh?” Miles commented a few hours later as I sat up and double checked that my SD card was still tucked into my bra. I stared at him coldly and didn’t answer. He had apologized profusely when we woke up; blaming alcohol and bad advice from his friends...I glared at him as I got up and picked up my pants on my way to his bathroom. 

“Where's my top?” I asked him as I frowned at my reflection in the mirror. My cheek and neck were still bruised and there was a long thin red slash from where the syringe had dragged across my skin. 

“You know, I could be helping you. If you send me ciphertext, I could be working on algorithms –” Miles said, sitting up as he looked at me hopefully. I shook my head, astounded by what he had said.

“Miles, shut the hell up. There is no part of me that wants anything to do with you!”

“I’ve already apologized like a hundred times though! Let me help you and prove how sorry I am!”

“Just saying you are sorry doesn’t magically erase what you did or suddenly fix everything! Anyways, what you did to me aside, there is still a guy in trouble because of you - and I have to get back. So if you really want to help me, help me find my clothes!”

“Hey. I'm sorry, Skye. Really, I am!” He said, handing me my shoes and socks. 

“I know, Miles...but what you did...there’s no forgiving that...you knew how I felt and you did it anyway...I can’t just forget that, as much as I want to,” I said, sighing as I put my shoes on and tried not to think of all the Hydra men who had used me in a similar fashion over the years - just with a lot more violence.

“Look, I don’t want to keep talking about it, I just want to get the fuck out of here! Where the hell did you put my stupid -”

I opened the door out of the bedroom to check the living room, only to find a very stony faced May standing there. She lifted up my shirt, holding it out to me.

“- top,” I finished saying in a whisper.

“Get dressed,” May said. I took my top; shooting a dark glance at Miles as I hurried to do up my buttons. My ears twitched as I heard the front door open and and several pairs of feet enter the apartment. I walked out to see Fitz-Simmons tinkering around on Miles’ computer as Coulson stood looking at a file. May closed the door behind me as she kept an eye on Miles.

I looked over at Coulson. “I know how this looks –” I started to say; knowing that everyone was probably jumping to the conclusion that Miles and I were in cahoots together.

He cut me off by holding up one finger as he finished reading the file in his hand before turning to address me.

“How long have you two been in contact?” He asked.

“I contacted him once - earlier today...” I said.

“When you tipped off an active suspect?” Coulson stared at me with a mistrustful look in his eyes that made my heart sink. I had come to care very much about what he thought of me over the last few weeks and I knew he wasn’t thinking anything nice at the moment. I hated that I cared...things were so much easier when I didn’t...

”No, it's not like that. Miles and I, we met when we were both a little screwed up. Scratch that, he was a little screwed up, I was a lot. But we looked after one another. I-I thought he was my friend...That's why I warned him, not because we're working together on this, but because we are...were friends,” I corrected myself as I thought about what had just happened and gritted my teeth. 

Coulson had not made any movement as he stood staring at me with a stony face that would have given May a run for her money.

“I'm really sorry,” I told him honestly, but his face didn’t soften. 

“Noted. If not you, then who is Mr. Lydon working with?” 

“No one. He's an idealist, believes in freedom of information,” I explained.

“That information cost a man his freedom and you sabotaged our attempts to remedy that.” I looked down, feeling extremely guilty.

“No, I came here to find out what Miles knows about Chan,” I said, truthfully.

“And?” Coulson prompted.

“Nothing. Miles is a dead end. He's harmless...well to anyone but me apparently...” I mumbled the last part hoping he wouldn’t hear - though I think he did.

“We'll see.” He started to turn away from me and I spoke faster out of desperation.

“Really, I was gonna find out everything I could to try to help!” 

Coulson tensed and bit his lip, finally showing some emotion.

“I just, I felt like I couldn't tell you guys everything!” 

“I know. That's why I asked May to follow you.” I blinked up at him, not knowing how to respond.

“Seems that wasn’t a dead end,” Coulson said. 

A loud crashing sound managed to make me flinch slightly as I whipped my head around to see Fitz apologizing for knocking a stack of books over. I winced and reached for my neck without realizing as it sent a sting of pain throughout my body at my rapid head movement. Why hadn’t it healed yet? My guess was that something in that syringe had temporarily slowed down my healing - I just hoped that it wasn’t permanent! 

I slowly moved my head back to face Coulson; and Ward, who had entered while I wasn’t looking, wincing again as my neck and head throbbed. 

I blinked in surprise as Ward suddenly strode over to me; grabbing my chin and tilting my face up to the light.

“What the hell happened to you?” He asked, his voice filled with a mix of anger, confusion, mistrust, and worry. I squirmed under his tight grip, not liking that he was pointing out my injuries.

“N-nothing,” I stammered nervously, not able to stop myself from flicking my eyes reflexively over to the head-shaped hole in the wall. Ward and Coulson followed my gaze and I saw their brows rise as they looked me over more closely and saw the handprints on my cheek and neck along with the long red streak. I continued to squirm as I felt Ward using his other hand to pick something out of my hair. 

“Skye...what happened?” Coulson asked, concern showing on his face as he looked at the chunk of plaster in Ward’s hand and linked it to the hole in the wall. The two of them were now looking at me up and down for any other signs of injury and I shifted uncomfortably, letting the silence fill the room and hoping that something would happen to distract them. But nothing did...

“Skye, do you really expect us to ignore the fact that you are bleeding and have bruises all over!” Ward exclaimed.

“Okay, I’m not bleeding anymore and it’s only two bruises, no big deal, really, I’ve had way worse!” I said, trying to shrug it off and hoping they would get the message. 

“Skye, stop avoiding the question! Tell us what happened,” Coulson said, walking over to me and bending down to my height so that he could look me directly in the eye. I looked away, really not wanting to talk about it.

“I already tried to tell you it wasn’t what it looked like but you didn’t wanna hear it then, so why bother explaining now?” I said, flippantly. “You’ve all clearly made up your minds about me, I’m not blind, I can see the mistrust,” I replied. But they wouldn’t let the matter drop. “Stop looking at me like that! Miles and I just had a...a misunderstanding of sorts...” I said, getting irritated by their stares.

“What kind of misunderstanding?” Ward asked, his jaw clenched as he glanced back to the hole in the wall. 

“Nothing major, he just...he was drunk that’s all...forgot we were only friends - look just drop it!” I exclaimed as I jumped up off the couch. But I had moved much too fast and I stumbled slightly at the head rush I received. 

Coulson guided me carefully back to the couch as I tried to ignore the pounding in my head.

“S-sorry, just a little dizzy I guess, no worries. I’m feeling better already!” I chirped. From the looks on their faces though, I could tell that neither of them believed me.

“We should get Simmons to check her over, Sir, she may have a concussion,” Ward said, anxiously.

“No, no, don’t do that! No need to bother her, I’m perfectly alright, see!” I argued, standing up a little too quickly again in my haste to reassure them. They watched me as I swayed on my feet. “Seriously, I’m fine! I don’t have a concussion, it’s just - I’m a little fuzzy from the - ya know, I’m probably just a little tired is all...” I stuttered as my eyes found the spot where the syringe lay on the floor. I cursed silently as my gaze once again betrayed me; watching as Coulson stooped down and picked up the syringe. I saw him and Ward sharing a look before Coulson strode off towards the bedroom where May was still questioning Miles.

3rd Person POV

Miles glanced up as his bedroom door opened and Coulson stormed into the room.

“Anything?” He asked May.

May looked at him and shook her head.

“I don't have to talk to you!” Miles stated, crossing his arms. 

Coulson shot him a thunderous look before turning to May again.

“Take him in!” He told her, stepping forward until he was invading Miles’ personal space as the man complained. “You will talk to me if you ever want to see the light of day again. One way or another, I am finding out what happened between you and Skye. Now tell me exactly what the hell you put in this syringe and don’t leave any details out. I want to know how she ended up in her current state!” Miles paled as Coulson towered over him and dropped his eyes guiltily to the floor. 

May glanced over at Coulson as he spoke, wondering what exactly had happened to Skye to put Coulson in such a mood. She had rarely seen him this angry. She listened as Miles stammered out the answers to Coulson’s questions, carefully keeping her face blank to hide the emotions she was feeling on the inside. May still had her doubts about Coulson’s decision to keep Skye onboard The Bus, but even she had to admit that she was starting to warm up to the young hacker and found herself enraged by what Miles had done.

She grabbed him roughly by his arm, pulling him up off the bed and walking him back out into the living room, doing her best to control the urge to punch the man.

“Gather all the evidence and secure the prisoner. We got what we were looking for here. We're going to Hong Kong,” Coulson told his team as he entered the living room. 

Fitz-Simmons began to gather their gear as Ward got up from his crouched position in front of Skye; storming over to Miles.

“Hands,” he growled softly, taking out a pair of handcuffs and clamping them tightly around the man’s wrists. 

Ward then marched Miles towards the door, passing by Skye and Simmons in time to hear Simmons leaning over to his rookie to tell her that she had missed a button on her shirt. 

He felt an intense rage surge up as he watched Skye fumble to fix her mistake. It didn’t matter to him that he had once attempted to do the same thing as Miles had after he had first met Skye at “Nights” - all that mattered was the thought of another man’s hands touching her the way he himself desired and his hatred towards Miles for getting to sample Skye before him.

********************************************

In-Line Comments

\- wasn’t sure how detailed to get with the scene between Miles and Skye so just let me know if you want me to go back in and edit it with his pov and or more detail. I figured I would leave it to the imagination since I plan on including similar scenes between Skye and Hydra/maybe a few other characters as the story progresses.


	10. The Girl in the Flower Dress (Part 2)

Skye's POV

When we got back to The Bus, Miles and I were led to the holding room where I had been taken my very first time aboard the plane.

I could feel Ward and Coulson's eyes on me as they glanced between the handcuffed Miles and me, worrying about whether I would be fine alone with him. I rolled my eyes at them, telling them that I would be fine; hating how one moment their gaze was filled with concern, and the next, suspicion.

"So, I guess due process isn't really Shield protocol?" Miles asked, pulling on his cuffs after Ward and Coulson had left.

"They don't have time for it," I stated coldly. 

"Whoa, are you defending them? These people are denying our basic rights!" I rolled my eyes again and resisted the urge to scream.

"This isn't about us. They're trying to save someone's life!" I exclaimed.

"Listen to yourself," Miles said scoffing as he turned and looked at the camera in the corner. "That's what they always say to justify invading privacy, Skye. These people stand for everything we despise, secrets, censorship –"

I lost my cool and leaned forward in irritation. 

"Enough with the manifesto, Miles, you are the last person who should be talking about basic rights, freedom, and privacy! Not after what you did!"

Miles' face drained of color as he looked at me. "Manning, Snowden, Aaron Swartz, these are modern day revolutionaries," he started rambling, attempting to ignore the elephant in the room.

"This has nothing to do with that!" I growled at him.

Ward's POV

I stared at the monitor as I listened to Skye arguing with Miles. Part of me didn't trust her anymore, another part was furious with Miles for what he had done to Skye, and another part, another part of me wanted to feel her skin underneath my own. But that would have to wait. Now was not the time. I had a cover to maintain while I was on this "Bus" and I didn't want my former S.O. to yell at me if my cover got blown too soon.

I hit a button on the table, cutting off the feed as I looked over at Fitz-Simmons who were in the room working on who knows what.

"Guy's hiding behind platitudes. He's dirty. I can feel it," I told them.

Coulson's POV

I sat in my office; watching the live feed of Skye and Miles; part of me wanting to make sure she was ok being alone with Miles so soon after what he had done to her, and another part feeling a sense of mistrust towards the girl.

"Go ahead, say it," I told May as she waked in and glanced at the monitor. She just shrugged her shoulders. She wasn't the kind of person to say 'I told you so'.

"What is your gut telling you now?" she asked me. 

I looked at the monitor for another moment.

"That she's still hiding something," I said slowly. I was remembering my conversation with Fury as I said this.

Skye's POV

I looked up as Ward entered. I sat up straighter as I watched him stride over to Miles, a cold gleam in his eyes.

"Despite what you did to her, she's been defending you. Saying you're a stand up guy," Ward showed us an envelope that he was holding. "So, I'm going to give you a chance. You want to tell her, or should I?"

Miles shot me a look before glancing up to Ward.

"I don't have to listen to you –"

"There goes your chance," Ward said angrily, sliding the envelope in front of me. I slowly picked it up and opened it.

"Your friend here made a few deposits in the days following the leak." Ward started setting down banking receipts. "All said, it's about a million dollars."

I stared at the receipts then shot a glare at Miles.

"What?" I cried out.

"Real stand up guy," Ward hissed.

"I can explain –" Miles started to say, but I cut him off.

"Did you sell information?" I asked him. He didn't say anything. "Miles? Yes or no?" Still no comment. "Did you?!"

"Yes, but –"

I cut him off again; standing up and attempting to launch myself at him, but Ward caught me and held on.

"Ohh! You are so dead! What the hell were you thinking?" I shouted at him.

"It was a million dollars! A million dollars. It would change my life, our lives," Miles cried out. "And that woman was harmless. I looked into it."

"No one with good intentions pays that kind of money for information. Did you ever think about that?" I lectured him, trying to break free of Ward's hold on me.

"Of course I did. I never would have done it if I thought –"

"Who is the woman you referred to?" Ward asked, keeping his grip tight on me as I continued to ignore the pounding in my head in my attempt to launch myself at Miles. 

"A fan of the Rising Tide, some rich girl in a flower dress. She knew all about me, said I had a gift. She thought people like us deserved more!" Miles explained.

"Oh, you deserve more!" I yelled at him, wishing Ward would let me at him already.

"She pointed me to a Chinese Shield feed, wanted me to crack it," Miles continued, glancing at me with trepidation. 

"You thought that was harmless?" Ward asked.

"I checked the data stream, it didn't seem like anything I hadn't already put out there, Skye. And I traced the account where the money came from to make sure it wasn't some evil corporation. It was just an Eco-Research lab. Otherwise, I would never –"

This got both mine and Ward's attention and we shared a brief look before leaning in closer towards Miles.

"Ecological research?"

"Yeah, insects, some study with centipedes."

My eyes went directly to Ward as he finally released me in shock.

"What's more harmless than that?" I glared at Miles. I stepped forward, wanting to knock some sense into him, but as I did so, I stumbled once more - and would have face planted into the metal table if Ward hadn't caught me in time. 

"Come on Skye, we need to get you checked out," Ward said, helping me out of the room and down to the lab. I kept trying to tell him that I was fine and that we had more important things to worry about right now, but it was like talking to a wall. 

I frowned and tapped my foot the entire time Simmons was checking me over, not liking this one bit as it reminded me of my time with Hydra. I breathed a sigh of relief when she declared that I was fine and just needed to rest up; immensely grateful that no poking or prodding had been involved for once.

Ward walked me back to my bunk before heading off to join the others in the Planning Room. I wanted to join him, but he refused, and I figured with everyone not knowing whether they could trust me anymore, that it was probably for the best.

********************************************

"I'm sorry. I honestly didn't know!" I stared at Miles. I had left my room, not able to handle waiting around and doing nothing while everyone else was busy.

"All our talks, did you mean none of it?" I crossed my arms. I wanted to know if he'd just been stringing me along in order to get what he wanted from me.

He gave me a confused look and I raised my brows.

"I risked everything to help you and it turns out every word out of your mouth since we met is total crap! You only wanted one thing from me!"

"That's not true!" He exclaimed, though I was having a hard time believing him.

"Democratization of knowledge, "the truth will set you free". The truth sure as hell came out!" I told him coldly.

"I believe in all those things. I just don't know why they have to go hand in hand with barely scraping by. Come on, Skye. You lived in your van for the last six months!"

"Now you're making fun of my van?" I clenched my jaw as I once again resisted the urge to punch him.

"I could've funded us for years...us. So you wouldn't have to sacrifice your principles, joining this corrupt institution to find what you're looking for. And what's wrong with me trying to do that?" Miles cried out.

"I'll tell you what's wrong with that, an innocent guy might die – for money!" How could he possibly think that was acceptable!

"You know I'd never intentionally hurt you or anyone else! I'm just trying to get my life together. At least you know what you're looking for. Me, I don't have that. For a long time, I thought it was you. I guess I was wrong..." he trailed off as he looked at me. I kept my face void of emotion as I stared back.

"I guess so." I turned around and was about to leave, when the door opened and I found myself facing Ward.

"Coulson's in trouble!" He stated as he looked over at Miles before leading me back to the Planning Room. It turns out Coulson and May had gone to try and rescue Chan, only to find that he didn't want to be saved. I couldn't help but think it was Dr. Hall all over again.

"The entire facility's been locked down!" Simmons filled me in as I entered the room with Ward and Miles behind me. I glanced over as I saw Fitz whisper to Ward. My super hearing catching exactly what they said.

"Are you sure about this?"

"No." 

I sighed as I focused on the monitor. I couldn't blame them for not trusting me right now, especially when I was still keeping secrets.

Miles stared at the monitor on the wall and leaned over to me.

"This is pretty cool," he said. I rolled my eyes and forced myself to keep my feet planted squarely where they were, not wanting him to know how uncomfortable he made me.

"The alarms disconnected the system from all exterior servers," I informed everyone.

"Can you fix it or not?" Ward asked.

"Yes, but you've got to get me onsite."

Both Ward and Miles made a face; causing me to roll my eyes again.

"No way!" said Miles.

"Not a chance!" Ward agreed.

The two men shared a look over the top of my head.

"You're a hacker, Skye, not Seal Team Six!" Miles exclaimed. No, I'm not...I'm even better - not that anyone knows. I knew now wasn't the time to reveal that I was keeping an even larger secret from the team, but I couldn't help thinking that this could have been my chance to finally test out whether I really was as good as I kept telling myself.

"No..." I fibbed as I turned to face Ward. "But he is." I rolled my eyes for a third time as Ward and Miles shared another look. "Look, it's not like we have any other options right now!" I pointed out, grinning as I saw Ward cave and nod his head.

********************************************

"Where are we on the doors?" I heard May's voice shout from Ward's earpiece.

I glanced at him as I did my best to stay out of his way as he was currently taking out one of the guards. I noticed another one sneaking up on him and stuck my foot out, causing the man to trip into the first one; knocking them both to the ground and making themselves easy targets for Ward to finish off.

"Almost there," he told May, looking at me in surprise.

A third guard came up and grabbed me, but Ward elbowed him in the face before I could do anything. He then held out his hand to me and together we ran down the hall and into what looked like the computer area of the building.

There were flashing lights and wires all around as I sat behind one of the computer terminals. I started typing rapidly as Ward stood behind me - watching what I was doing.

"How long is this gonna take?" He hissed, impatiently.

"Done!" I said, standing up and heading for the door; not noticing the impressed look Ward was giving me.

"Doors are unlocked," I heard Coulson's voice confirm over the radio. I sighed, grateful that I had been able to help.

"Simmons! Are the building's computers back online?" I listened as Coulson spoke, wondering what he was planning next.

"Yes," Simmons told him.

"I hate myself for saying it...but uncuff Miles...we're gonna need his help," Coulson said. I frowned at this, not liking where this was going, but appreciating the fact that at least I was not in the same room as Miles at the moment.

Ward and I looked around as doors suddenly closed and vents began opening up. We hastily started making our way back out of the building; meeting up with Coulson and May across the street just as two flaming jets erupted above the building. We all took a sharp breath at the sight.

"Skye managed to extract some files from the building's mainframe," Ward told Coulson and May. "It's not much but it could get us a fix on Centipede." I sent Ward a look to let him know I appreciated that he was trying to help me out; but I had a feeling that neither Coulson or May were going to trust me anytime soon. 

"Maybe," Coulson said.

Ward looked from the top of the building over to Coulson.

"You can't save someone from themselves, sir," I heard Ward tell him quietly.

"You can if you get to them early enough." I felt a sense of hope rise within me at this, but pushed it down, knowing that I was being delusional to think that Coulson would forgive me so quickly.

I met Coulson's gaze but could only hold it for a moment before I had to look down and away, feeling incredibly ashamed.

********************************************

I watched a few hours later as Coulson walked over to Miles with a box in his hand. They conversed for a few minutes, Miles face growing dark as he eventually took the box with a frown. I looked on nervously as Coulson reached in and pulled out a bracelet that was then attached to Miles' wrist.

I smirked briefly as Coulson informed Miles that he had donated the money Miles had received to Agent Kwan's family - but my expression dropped quickly as he then walked past me on his way up the stairs with a demand for me to meet him in his office.

I paused on my way, noticing May pouring a drink for herself and Ward. I stepped up behind them as they were about to take their first sip.

"So I'm going to Coulson's office now. I figured you might want to be there, being my S.O. and all," I told Ward.

He shook his head, not looking at me.

"I'm off the clock."

I lowered my eyes, slightly disappointed.

"Right. Okay, then."

I looked at Ward one more time and saw him shaking his head as I walked away.

Coulson had his back to the door, so I knocked on the side of the wall before entering and sitting down in one of the chairs in front of his desk. I kept my gaze on his desk, trying to ignore the fear in the pit of my stomach.

"I didn't want anything to –" I started to say.

"Stop lying," Coulson interrupted, turning to face me sharply. "Since the moment you stepped foot on this plane, you've been lying to my face, to all of us."

"No, I haven't –" I denied, knowing already that he saw right through me.

"You're lying now. I stood up for you to my team down there. And some of us started to believe in you, risked our lives for you."

"I..."

"Why are you here?! You've been keeping something from us, this whole time. And it wasn't just a friend. You have a secret, Skye, and one chance to come out with it. That's now, or I'm done with you."

I looked down and away from Coulson; staring into space; thinking, then closed my eyes in defeat. I reached into my bra, pulled out my SD card, and slowly set it on Coulson's desk.

"What is this?" Coulson asked.

"It's everything I have," I stated. My nerves tingling with apprehension. 

"On us?" I looked up at him as he glared a me suspiciously; trying to blink away the tears in my eyes.

"On me..." I corrected him, taking a deep breath as Coulson took the SD card. "That's one of the reasons I was hacking Shield, Hydra, and any other agency out there," I stammered out as he fed the card into the reader attached to his computer with a beep. "To find any details I could about my parents...heck, about myself as well!"

The monitor on Coulson's office wall began to show all the different pieces of information I had collected in the last six months. There were various pictures with no faces, receipts, and a letter to St. Agnes Orphanage. Most of that letter was blacked out much to my irritation. There was also a large red SHIELD stamp in the upper right hand corner that said "Classified; redacted 04-23-89" 

The only parts that were legible read: "Medical examination results regarding female infant {Blacked out} dropped off at St. Agnes Orphanage on {Blacked out}. The infant was found to have {blacked out} expressing minimal {blacked out}. No {blacked out} Notes filed by the resident pediatrician indicate {blacked out} Blood pressure: Normal Nutrition: Normal. Indication of Hearth Disease: None. Heart Rate: Normal. Checked for injuries or indications of {blacked out} no malnutrition. To see the records regarding the situations discussed in this document, please contact {blacked out}." I read it over again, feeling tears threatening to spill over any second now.

"There's nothing. No records. There's no trace of them. My lifelong search has led to a single document, redacted..." my voice cracked around the lump in my throat.

"By Shield," Coulson completed my sentence, his eyes widening as he saw the Shield logo stamped on the document.

"No matter what you or Fury do, I'll never stop looking!"

"You might not like what you find," Coulson pointed out.

"It can't be worse than what I've imagined or already been through..." I stated boldly. 

The look on Coulson's face softened as he took a couple of steps closer to me.

"Maybe I can help."

I took a shaky breath and looked away for a second, then back to him. I watched as he reached over to his desk and grabbed a box identical to the one I saw him give to Miles. He held it out in front of me and I closed my eyes then took the box from him, taking out the bracelet and staring at it.

"There's something else, sir..." I mumbled as I motioned a request to use his computer. He paused, thinking for a moment, before nodding his permission. 

I hesitantly walked over and opened a second folder and typed in the password to decrypt the contents. I avoided Coulson's gaze as I walked over towards the door. 

"You told me the day we met, that you wanted to help the hooded hero and his friend with the wings. I hope that remains true despite the fact that I withheld the truth from you. I just wanted to avoid being experimented on again - it's not an experience I ever want to repeat. I hope you can understand why I didn't tell you earlier - and if possible, I would ask that you respect my wish to keep this from the rest of the team." 

With that said, I clasped the bracelet onto my wrist; turning it on as I walked out of the room to let Coulson read over my Hydra files in private, not wanting to see his reaction.

********************************************

In-Line Comments

\- Let me know what you thought of this latest chapter! And if anyone has any preference on who she runs into at the hub! Want to add as many of her soulmates as possible since I don't want to let that part of the story slide - any suggestions on how to add as many of them as possible are welcome!


	11. FZZT

Skye's POV

"Sorry, Fitz. It's close, but it's just not right," I heard Ward say from my spot in the corner of the lab, putting down the gun he had been holding and looking at Fitz.

"Really? Cause Agent Coulson had no problems," Fitz replied.

"It's an ounce too heavy."

I turned in my chair to look at Ward in surprise.

"An ounce? Seriously?"

Ward shot me a look, clearly still angry for the whole Miles incident. He looked away, speaking to Fitz as he picked up the gun again, weighing it in his hand.

"It's the difference between success and failure. When you're on a roof-top with a 15 mile per hour wind, your target is 500 yards away –" Then I'll use my super strength to make up for the barely noticeable difference of a single ounce! Though I guess "normal" people like Ward might care about the difference - and by normal, I do mean extremely picky.

"Yeah, but we do have a rifle," Fitz pointed out.

Ward raised his eyebrows at him.

"Lose the ounce," he said, walking out of the room.

"Yeah, okay. I'm on it!" Fitz shouted at Ward's back. "Lose the ounce," I heard him mutter under his breath before changing his accent that I loved so much into that of an American as he picked up the gun - developing an old western style swagger.

"I'm Agent Grant Ward, I can shoot the legs off a flea from 500 yards..." he started to say before switching back to his normal voice. "As long as it's not windy."

I began to laugh, Fitz looking over to me and giving me a big smile. He set the gun down and turned to me more fully.

"Hey, there's a sound I haven't heard in a bit!" 

"Yeah, well, you wouldn't be laughing a whole lot if you were living in Ward's doghouse," I commented, my smile slipping.

"You made the rounds, apologized to us all. What more can he ask?"

"I don't know. I have been busting my ass, memorizing every Shield protocol manual, following every order. "Yes, sir." "No, sir." I even let them tag me like a stray dog!" I said, getting more and more angry as I held up my wrist, showing him the bracelet I had put on a few days ago. I understood why Coulson was being precautious and appreciated the fact that he seemed to have agreed to my wish to not tell the team about my powers, but the bracelet reminded me way too much of Hydra.

"I mean, I know I lied to you guys, but I was trying to protect my friend, not that he deserved it..." I added, thinking back to what Miles had done.

"You know, we all make mistakes," Fitz said, leaning against a counter. Who cares about your ex-friend?"

I got out of my chair and stood facing him.

"It's not like I'm comparing Ward to Miles, but at least with Miles, I didn't have to worry about passive-aggressive stuff. There was no mind games!" I exclaimed, again thinking back to Hydra and having to stop myself from thinking about how similar Ward seemed to many of the Hydra guards I had known. Ward wasn’t Hydra, as much as he may remind me of them.

Futz nodded in understanding.

"We spoke the same language, you know?" I continued to ramble. The last few days of keeping quiet finally spilling out.

"Yeah. Yeah, a bit like we do," Fitz said, enthusiastically as he moved his finger between himself and I.

"Totally. You and Simmons are so tight, it's like you're psychically linked!" 

Fitz made a face, but I didn't get why.

"No, you...No. Actually, no. I don't think so," Fitz stuttered. I couldn't help but smile at his antics.

We both turned to the door as Simmons walked in.

"So, Ward was here? Let me guess, the night-night pistol again?" She asked, setting her tablet down on one of the tables.

"Yeah," Fitz confirmed. "Oh, yeah, and he said it was off by an ounce."

Simmons scoffed and I couldn't help but smile.

"Of course he did." I watched in amusement as she put her hands on her hips and adopted an American accent as Fitz had done only moments earlier. I shot Fitz a look. Yeah, not psychically linked at all.

"I'm Agent Grant Ward, and I could rupture your spleen with my left pinky – blindfolded," she said. I giggled at her impression.

"That is dead on!"

We heard the door open once more and turned toward the noise as Ward walked back in.

"Hey, hustle up and grab your gear. We're on a mission," he told us.

Fitz-Simmons and I tried to keep a straight face after Simmons' impression of Ward, but couldn't resist snickering a bit.

"Something funny?"

We looked at each other shaking our heads. 

"Poor, silly Fitz," said Simmons in her normal voice as she picked up the night-night gun and held it out to Ward. "He mistakenly left a dummy round in the pistol. Should be proper now."

He took the gun out of her hands and felt the weight. I watched as he paused a moment then looked at Simmons.

"Great, thanks," was all he said before turning and walking away as Fitz-Simmons and I chuckled together before leaving the lab.

********************************************

"Troop Leader's name was Adam Cross. Apparently he said he heard something in the woods, went to check it out. That's where the electrostatic anomaly occurred," Coulson filled us in after we had arrived on scene.

"What I don't understand is, usually, they're caused by a massive electrical storm," Fitz said with curiosity.

"But there wasn't a storm within a thousand miles of here last night," Simmons pointed out.

"This anomaly is different, it has a side effect we've never seen before," Coulson said as he pointed over to where May stood by the hood of a truck and commenting about how the battery had blown straight up through the hood.

"It landed over here," Ward called out to Coulson as I joined him as he kneeled down by the spot the battery had landed. "Hell of a force to create that kind of trajectory," he added as I poked the battery with a thick branch I had found. He stood up and I stood up as well.

"Huh." I copied him, putting my hands on my hips as he did, mirroring his every movement but accidentally bumping into him as he stopped turning; making him roll his eyes at me.

"What are you doing?"

I gave him the most innocent look I could come up with. "I'm shadowing my supervising officer."

"Shadowing, not smothering," he said as he walked off. I huffed in irritation but let it go as I followed him at a further distance.

"There's scorch marks all over that tree. Lucky the whole forest didn't burn down."

"I don't get it," I stated. "Seems to me like this electroshock thingy was some freak lightning strike. I mean, why call us? What's the big –" I stopped talking and stared in shock. "Never mind." I had entered the clearing where the rest of the team was to see the Mr. Cross that Coulson had mentioned was floating in midair.

"So sad a man died this way...and yet, so amazing," Simmons said.

"Fitz-Simmons, any idea what could cause an effect like this?" Coulson asked. I watched as they shared a glance and then began to talk over one another. Oh, great. This is not going to make any sense whatsoever.

"Well, okay, judging by the horizontal electrical discharge, it could be -"

"There's the solution hypothesis. Perhaps nanobatteries..."

Coulson made the "time out" hand signal that I had observed being used in football games that were always being played on the tv's at "Nights".

"Time. Let's try that again. Any idea what could cause an effect like this?" Coulson asked, looking at Simmons first and then Fitz.

"The hell if I know."

"Uh, no, no clue."

"Seems to me like we're either dealing with some freak natural event or a new high tech weapon," Ward spoke up after the two scientists.

"Or, could be someone from your uber-secret index?" I stated, hoping that Coulson hadn't added my name to the list.

"There's no one on the index with this type of power," May told me.

"That we know of. I'll contact Agent Blake at Shield H.Q., have him check it out. Whoever or whatever is responsible, we can't let this happen again," Coulson tacked on.

"Fitz, see his forehead? Look at that endothelial discoloration." I watched as Simmons got closer to the body; conversing with Fitz. I blinked in surprise as I saw a spark of electricity shock her, quickly followed by the loud thump of the floating body dropping to the ground.

********************************************

I glanced up as Coulson and Ward entered the Planning Room, where I was typing away on a tablet.

"You found something on Cross?" Coulson asked.

"Many things, actually, but you already knew that. Thanks to my fancy Shield house arrest gizmo tracking my every key swipe, my online activities, my cholesterol," I said, bitterly. Neither of the guys gave any real reaction. "Just wish it came in another color...or came off!" I added.

"The victim?"

"Adam Cross, single, no kids, originally from Wrigley, Pennsylvania, moved to Arizona in his late twenties," I told them, letting the matter of the bracelet drop for now.

"Been there. They have a nice little strawberry festival in the spring. Occupation?" I looked at Coulson.

"Phys-Ed teacher at the local high school and varsity baseball coach and troop leader and volunteer firefighter. This guy makes Captain America look like "The Dude". I said, trying to hold back the blush that threatened to stain my cheeks red as I thought about Steve and the others. I was still daydreaming about them; though I had no idea why they kept interrupting my thoughts when it had been more than six months now since I had met them! Why the hell was I thinking about them all the time! Out of habit, I scratched one of my scars as it prickled - they were still burning occasionally; I had noticed it tended to happen when my mind wandered to Tony or one of the others, but figured I was just thinking too much into it. Scars hurt, it’s what they do!

I laughed but Coulson and Ward still gave me nothing.

"The Big Lebowski," I waited a beat with still no reaction. "Seriously?"

"What about a criminal record, restraining order, something that might give us a suspect?" Ward said, ignoring my comments.

I hit a couple of buttons on the tabletop monitor.

"Nada, not even a parking ticket. I skimmed all his posts, anyone linked to his pages hoping for a crazy ex or superpowered stalker, and he's clean," I stated.

"Everybody looks clean on their first go-round."

I lowered my eyes at his barb, wishing that I didn't feel so guilty and thinking for the hundredth time how much easier things would be if I hadn't started caring what people thought about me.

"Ward's right. We're missing something, dig deeper," Coulson said.

I looked from Coulson to Ward then down to the tabletop monitor, nodding as I turned and walked out of the room.

********************************************

"Fitz, what's the latest reading?" Coulson's voice asked over the radio as I joined Fitz-Simmons in the lab a few hours later. They had notified me of the latest spike in activity and I had rushed down to see if I could help.

"Uh, we're at 324 magajoules and growing stronger. Dangerous territory, sir," Fitz told him as he looked at his tablet.

"There's a farmhouse a mile north of you right at the center of the signal. That's got to be it," I added as I examined one of the monitors.

"Skye, dig up everything you can on whoever lives at that farm." I nodded; not that Coulson could see, and went back to my computer as Coulson continued to talk. "I need to know who we're dealing with."

"Hold on. What just happened? Um, it's gone," Fitz exclaimed.

"What's gone?" Coulson asked.

"The electrostatic signal. It seemed to pulse then disappear," Fitz explained.

"Skye, we need real time sat surveillance on this area, right now," Coulson told me as he, Ward, and May investigated the farmhouse from their end.

"Hang on," I said; clicking some keys. Instead of real time surveillance feeds though, I pulled up a picture of some firefighters. "I think I found something you might want to see first. Sending it over now." I hit a few more buttons, sending the picture to Coulson's phone as Fitz-Simmons glanced over my shoulder.

"The guy who owns the farm's name is Frank Whalen. He's a volunteer firefighter at the same station house as our first victim, Adam Cross," I informed everyone. "They were both responders when the aliens crashed in Los Angeles. We're looking for a killer," I added.

********************************************

"Skye, what did you find out about the firehouse?" Coulson asked me once Fitz-Simmons and I had joined the others at the farmhouse to help examine our latest dead guy.

"It turns out they sent an engine to Los Angeles with a dozen volunteers after the Chitauri invasion, including Cross and Whalen. Maybe it has something to do with why they were targeted?"

"Or how they were killed," Ward added.

"You mean like, an alien weapon?" I said, frowning.

"Let's just make sure we get to those firefighters before anyone else does," Coulson stated.

********************************************

"What are you looking for?" I asked as I walked into the lab to see Simmons bent over Frank's body, examining his head, while Fitz looked around in the cabinets.

"A scented candle," Fitz responded.

"Not you," I rolled my eyes at him as I nodded over to Simmons.

"This wound, something doesn't quite make sense. Initially, I thought these were entry wounds, as if from a gunshot. But they're not, they're exit wounds."

"What if this weapon overloaded the brain past the threshold of its electrical capacity causing it to discharge like an E.M.P.?" Fitz suggested, and I was glad to find that I was able to understand the gist of what he said for once.

"You're assuming we're dealing with an external source," Simmons said, shaking her head.

I heard a beep in the background and turned to look at the computer.

"Somethings happening," I pointed out. "Satellite's picking up another reading. It's coming from the firehouse!" I exclaimed. Coulson, May, and Ward had gone to the Firehouse to question the firefighters, but it looked like they were about to deal with a lot more than ticked off firefighters! I listened to their feed in fear as Coulson talked to the firefighters while Ward kept a watch outside and May searched around.

"Coulson, I found it. It's a Chitauri helmet!" I heard May say.

"Fitz-Simmons, are you seeing this?"

We all glanced over at the big monitor where we could see a live video now on display.

"It's not a weapon, yet it caused a cranial discharge," Simmons mumbled, lost in thought.

We all distracted ourselves by keeping an ear  
on Coulson's conversation with Tony; one of the firefighters.

"It had rust all over it. We were cleaning it," he was telling Coulson.

I stared at Simmons as her face glowed with realization.

"That wasn't rust!" She cried out. "May, don't touch it!" she warned as May made to pick up the helmet. "Sir, he's not using a weapon, he's infected. I think the helmet was the source of an alien virus!" Simmons exclaimed. My eyes widened.

"Sir, he's at 600 megajoules and climbing! Sir?" I glanced worriedly towards the radio, holding my breath in as I waited for someone to respond to Fitz’s warnings.

"Clear everybody out. Clear everybody out, now," I finally heard Coulson say. We could tell that everyone but Coulson had left the room, listening in on his conversation with Tony.

"Sir, you have to get out of there right now! He's going to –" Fitz warned him. I had a feeling that Coulson had taken his earpiece out though, since we didn't hear anything further.

********************************************

"All clean, no traces of electrostatic energy," Fitz said, checking us all over with some sort of device.

"What about the other firefighters?" I asked Simmons, glancing over to where they stood.

"They'll be quarantined and observed at a Shield biohazard facility," she told me.

Two men in hazmat suits walked out of the back room holding a big metal box between them. The team met up in the center of the firehouse, as I continued to stare at the men.

"Um, anyone else notice they're putting the infected alien thing on our truck?" I commented.

"We're flying it to the Sandbox," Coulson informed me.

"Sandbox?"

"It's a Shield research facility across the Atlantic. They specialize in hazardous materials," Simmons explained. I couldn't help the shiver that ran down my spine at first as I heard her say research, but I sighed in relief at the hazardous material part. Hopefully that meant no human subjects!

"If what you suspect is true, that this is a virus, then those firefighters could be infected, and they're gonna need a cure. Find one," I heard Coulson tell Simmons. I paled at the thought of what would happen if she didn't find one...turns out I didn't have to wait very long to find out - I joined Ward in the Planning Room as he paced back and forth with worry as we waited to see if Simmons would be able to save herself; having unfortunately contracted the virus herself...

********************************************

"Isn't that..." I declared, as Coulson and I watched Fitz hurrying through the plane with the box that contained the deadly helmet in his hands.

"Fitz!" Coulson shouted.

We raced after him in time to see him break the seal on the door and join Simmons in the lab. I glanced up as May and Ward walked down the stairs to see what was going on. 

We all watched on as Fitz-Simmons tested out their device on a third rat to see if it would work - it didn't...everyone's faces fell as we watched the rat float up into the air.

Ward and Coulson headed back up the stairs to give Fitz and Simmons some alone time, but I hesitated; the last one to leave, wishing desperately to trade my healing abilities for Simmons' virus if it meant that she would survive...

********************************************

"What is that?" I exclaimed as an alarm sounded out through the plane.

May hurried over to the tabletop monitor and started hitting buttons.

"Someone's lowering the cargo-hold ramp!" she cried out.

My eyes went big as I realized what was happening and I dashed off down the spiral staircase.

"The antiserum worked, but she jumped!" Fitz shouted at me; holding up the device he and Simmons had made.

I quickly took the device from Fitz but didn't bother more than a brief glance at the parachute before jumping out of the plane. It wasn't like I needed it! 

It was with tremendous joy that I unfurled my wings; using them to glide along the currents and steady myself in the air as I looked for Simmons. I spotted her falling and tucked my wings in tightly, streamlining my body to dive faster towards her. I got in close to her and spreads my wings out again to slow my decent. Her eyes were closed - I was pretty sure she had passed out.

I grabbed a hold of her, shocked her in the thigh with the device, flapped my wings hard, and held on to her. I closed my eyes and reveled in the feel of the wind on my feathers as we floated down to the ocean - a blue pulse emitting from Simmons just before we landed in the water. That had been amazing! Not saving Simmons, I mean, sure, that was great, but my wings! It had never felt like that when Hydra had made me use them. It would send stabbing pains throughout my body, my back would bleed, and I would tumble head over heels; but today, today it had felt like heaven...

********************************************

"Don't get me wrong! I'm happy your both alive, truly. And I realize you were trying to save the team. But, what you did today, that was not your call!" Simmons and I were both standing in front of Coulson's desk. We both looked contrite, as if being lectured by a parent. 

My lingering smile disappeared.

"Just getting you out of the water, do you have any idea what a pain it is dealing with the Moroccan office? Don't you ever pull a stunt like that again. We'd hate to lose you, Jemma," Coulson said. I opened my mouth to apologize for not simply flying her back to the plane, but closed my mouth, as I didn't have any real answer. I had just been so caught up enjoying how freeing flying now felt compared to when Hydra had demanded it of me, to really think about anything other than floating in the water with a broad grin on my face and Simmons' limp body in my arms.

"Thank you, sir," Simmons said as Coulson unbuttoned his suit jacket and sat down. I started out of his office.

"Oh, does that mean we're to leave now?" I rolled my eyes at Jemma - she had made me promise to call her by her first name from now on, as we exited the room.

"So, what did you think of your first time skydiving?" I asked Jemma, trying to see how much she remembered and if she had seen my wings...

She sighed.

"Honestly, I'd rather not think about it anymore," she responded.

"I thought what you did was incredibly brave," I told her.

She stopped walking to stare at me with surprise.

"Thanks for saving my life..."

"No problem, anytime!" I walked back to my bunk, my mind racing with worry and fear as I thought back over what had just happened, hoping that Fitz-Simmons wouldn't discover my wings. As scientists, they were likely to want to experiment on me...and I did not want to be put through that again, as I had already told Coulson.

********************************************

In-Line Comments

\- Let me know what you thought!  
\- Taking a survey to see who wants me to use Fitz and who wants me to use Simmons as the first person to learn about her wings! I'm leaning towards Fitz bc he was the one to first accept Skye's powers in the show and i really found that part touching and or I could do simmons and they could bond more at the hub i guess? Just lemme know if any of you have a preference?!   
\- on a slightly unrelated note though, thinking of making simmons and fitz soulmates bc...come on they basically are, and thinking that maybe simmons should be the first one to explain what soulmates are to Skye? She still wont know that she has any but would love your feedback on whether you think Simmons would be the person to have explain or if I should wait till the Avengers and have one or all of then explain what a soulmate is to her? kinda want her to have a general sense before she meets them again but still not know she has any words but also dont know if I should keep that whole subject as much of a secret to her as possible for as long as possible if that makes sense?


	12. The Hub (Part 1)

Skye's POV

"We need to talk," I looked over at Fitz. We were hanging out on one of the couches in the main cabin of the plane, waiting for Simmons to finish extracting some sort of intel from a Shield operative we had just gone to rescue in Siberia.

"Sure, what's up?" I asked him.

"I know." Well that wasn't vague at all!

"Know what?"

"Who you are!" I glanced over at Fitz, to see him staring at me with an excited gleam in his eyes.

"Well yeah, Fitz. We've been stuck on a plane for the last few weeks getting to know each other! I'd be hurt if you still didn't know me by now!" 

"I - no, that's not what I meant! I mean, I know who you are!" He exclaimed. Where the hell was he going with this?!

"Yeah...we just went over that fact?" I said, tilting my head to the side in confusion.

"Oh my, I - I, well...what I'm trying to say is...I was thinking about how you jumped out of the plane to save Simmons the other day, and it finally dawned on me that you just jumped out without a parachute! Now, at first I didn't think much of it, but the more I thought about it, the more things started to make sense!" I frowned as Fitz rambled; a lump forming in my stomach as I anticipated his next words with dread.

"You're Angel! The girl who helped Mike Peterson save all those people! You have wings!" Fitz looked like a little kid in a candy store as he stared at me; well what I imagined one would look like, not having ever been to a candy store before...

I silently contemplated whether or not Fitz would fall for whatever excuse I could come up with, but as the seconds ticked by and I couldn't think of anything to explain how else Simmons and I would have survived a fall from that high without a parachute, I gave up; knowing that Fitz was smart enough to know if I was lying.

"My name is Skye, not Angel!" I finally said, crossing my arms and glaring at him. His grin widened as he bounced up and down on the couch. I could practically see the gears shifting in his brain as his mind raced with who knows how many crazy ideas. "Before you get too excited, I'm not using my powers right now, and I would really appreciate if you didn't tell anyone on the team about my wings! Coulson knows already, but I don't want anyone else to! Especially Simmons! Got that! You of all people should know what she's like...I refuse to be poked and prodded and treated like her latest pet project, alright! And the same goes for you! So, congratulations, you now know the truth - now forget it!" I grumbled. He frowned, opening his mouth to say something before changing his mind. He slowly nodded, and I sighed in relief.

"Okayyy, but only for now, and only because you're right about Simmons wanting to examine you - and I don't think that's a good idea. She's always been obsessed with new medical breakthroughs and your enhanced healing would send her down the path to becoming one of those crazed scientists - so I'll keep your secret for the time being, but I have so many questions! How do your wings work? Do they just appear? Does it hurt? Do you have super strength? How much weight can you lift -" He asked question after question, not bothering to stop and let me answer any of them. I smiled briefly at his enthusiasm and excitement, but I didn't like talking about my powers as it usually led to thoughts of Hydra.

Fortunately for me, Coulson stepped into the room and interrupted Fitz's long list of queries. 

"Do you need me to analyze the data?" Fitz asked, turning to face Coulson.

"That won't be necessary," he replied.

"If it's encrypted, I can mine the chip for him," I added, standing up.

Coulson barely glanced at me as he kept his expression neutral.

"I'm afraid this mission's classified," he told us as May, Ward, and Simmons walked into the living room area to listen as well. "Clearance Level 8," he informed us.

"Uh..." What the hell does that mean?

"Ah," said Simmons, nodding that at least she understood whatever that meant.

Coulson turned around and walked in the opposite direction. Fitz-Simmons also turned to head back to their lab. I stared around as everyone seemed to go back to what they were doing - while I was still confused.

"Wait, what? He can just shut us out of the process like that?"

Ward stopped walking away and listened as Fitz explained things to me.

"Well, he did say the mission was Level 8." That totally makes sense now...not!

"And, we're not. So we can't know about it," Simmons said, shrugging. 

"Right, but this is normally the part where we all stand around the holocom and learn about stuff. I mean, aren't we all, on the same team?" I said, still not understanding.

"No need to get started on one of your socialist riffs," Fitz said with his hands out in front of him. I glared at Fitz as I noticed May smirking.

"Shield's whole infrastructure is based on the hierarchy and compartmentalization of intelligence," Simmons stated as she and Fitz started off again. I stared at their backs.

"Every agent can't have the intel on every mission. Makes the entire organization vulnerable," said Ward.

"Okay fine, but if I just fought my way out of an underground Siberian prison, I'd kind of want to know what for!" I said, feeling sympathetic towards the agent we had just extracted from Siberia.

"Coulson's got you used to the plane, the way we do missions here. The Hub, is different," May cut in.

"The Hub? What's The Hub?" Am I ever going to understand all of their wacko lingo?!

********************************************

I looked down at The Bus, now parked inside what looked like a building.

"Wow," I mumbled to myself as I glanced over to the side and hurried to catch up with everyone else as they strode through some sort of entryway and down a hallway.

"I didn't realize Big Brother was this big!" I exclaimed when I finally caught up with them.

"Oh, this is nothing. Wait until you see The Triskelion!" Simmons told me.

"Everyone's wearing the same suit. Someone tell me why, please," I commented. It looked bizarre. It was like watching penguins waddling around in the desert.

We walked up to some sort of reception desk and everyone but me grabbed badges.

"Do I get one?" I said.

Coulson pointed to the bracelet wrapped around my wrist.

"That's your badge, which means you've got a long way to go to even make Level 1," he stated. I frowned but nodded.

"Copy that. Does that also mean no access to any computers here whatsoever? I could run a search on the redacted Shield file on my parents!" I whispered to him.

"Skye..." Coulson sighed as he glanced at me.

"But it just, it seems like the place they'd keep them, right?" I pressed.

"I'll look into it. But right now we've got more pressing matters at hand," he said as everyone stopped in front of a man.

"Agent Sitwell," Coulson greeted.

"Agent Coulson. Good to see you feeling better," the man said, shaking Coulson's hand. "Agent Hand's waiting for you in the Situation Room."

"And she doesn't like to wait," Coulson cut in.

"So you know her!" Agent Sitdown; or whatever his name was, said.

"Only her reputation," said Coulson as we reached a doorway. "After you."

"Your Level 7s can join us in the briefing," he added as everyone started to step up to the scanning device on the side of the door.

I glanced over to see Fitz-Simmons at the back; looking on with awe.

"Victoria Hand..."

"Is here!" Fitz finished saying for Simmons.

I made my way towards the door, but my bracelet, along with the limb attached to said bracelet, was magnetized to a plate on the door. I looked up with confusion as Fitz-Simmons looked slightly embarrassed.

"Ouch," Fitz commented.

The doors began to close as I still tried to free myself - the doors opening again as Coulson reappeared

"Is this your subtle way of saying I can't come with?" I said, gesturing to my current state.

"We'll be back," he told me.

"Wha...?" I scoffed and turned to look at Fitz-Simmons.

"We should probably head over to the tech corridor," Fitz slowly said.

Simmons rolled her eyes with excitement.

"Oh, I can't wait to see the new chem-kit." I blinked in surprise as they started off through the door.

"I don't think it likes me here..." I growled under my breath - not that anyone was there to hear me...

********************************************

"I found a localized EMP, plus a few other party favors!" Fitz called out to Simmons and I a half hour later as he went to carry his cart through one of the automatic sliding doors. "Oh, come on. What the...open." I grinned as I watched his cart get stuck. "It's stuck!" He cried out as Coulson, May, and Ward arrived to see what was happening. "The cart's stuck!" I giggled, finding his predicament extremely hilarious. 

I heard him grunting and groaning as he used his hands on one side of the door, trying to pry them open. He finally managed to get them open a bit and turned to go back to push the cart - only to find that they had closed as soon as he had let them go.

"What the hell?!? Who designed this?!? In The Hub, of all places!" My laugh echoed through the hall as we all watched him struggle. I was starting to feel better about my incident with my bracelet. Clearly I wasn't the only one who the doors here had issues with.

Fitz huffed loudly as he was able to push the cart out from between the doors, but lost his balance in the attempt, and I clapped a hand to my mouth, barely containing my chuckles as he got to his feet to find the doors had closed in his face. 

"Oh, that's..." Fitz declared, throwing his hands up in irritation as we all stared at him still trapped behind the door.

I giggled again as I went to go help him - until something made me stop dead in my tracks. I'd recognize those blue eyes anywhere...they were the first blue eyes I had ever seen after all...Crap! What the hell was he doing here! My heart pounded in my chest as my eyes slid over to see the person standing next to Steve. I guess they managed to find each other after all...I am so screwed! I held my breath in as I quickly opened the door for Fitz, using his body as a human shield to block me from sight; hoping desperately that Steve and Bucky had not noticed me yet.

********************************************

"Hey, is this what you wanted?" I asked Fitz as I knocked on the open door to his bunk; where he and Simmons were packing his stuff. He had been selected to join Ward on a covert op. "Also, what is this?" I said, holding up the small black bag.

"Oh, Fitz. A full sized mag pouch?" Simmons said, raising her brow at her partner.

"Just one of the many tactical decisions I've had to make already," Fitz told her with a shrug.

"Hmm," Simmons said.

"And Ward said we needed it," added Fitz.

I raised my hands up in acquiescence as I handed over the bag to him and walked off to the Planning Room to join the others as we met up one last time before Ward and Fitz headed out on their mission. I sent Ward a thumbs up and a smile as he walked off; only getting an eye roll and a nod of acknowledgement in return. I waited till the others had filed out before speaking to Coulson.

"Does this feel okay to you? Shouldn't we be going with them?"

"The people who put these ops together are the best of the best. They know what they're doing," Coulson stated, walking out and leaving me alone. I sighed, not liking this setup one bit. I decided to keep Simmons company as she oversaw a group of men who were traipsing in and out of her and Fitz's lab.

"Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no!" She was crying out when I entered; grabbing the Night-Night gun that some random soldier was setting down carelessly. "Please be careful."

I watched as she took the gun and moved it to a better spot.

"Can you imagine what Fitz would do if the Night-Night gun was broken when he came back?" She said, looking over to me. "Surely he'll be okay out there, right?" I shrugged, not wanting to tell her that I had a bad feeling about all of this.

"Well, Agent May is Level 7," I told her, turning to stare at May as she suddenly appeared in the lab as well. "Maybe she can give us an update on their mission." I frowned as May glanced up from her tablet to glare at me in irritation. "Does that mean that you do know something and you can't tell us or that you don't know anything?" I asked her.

She just stared at me in that lovely May way of hers. Hehe, that rhymes...I’m such a dork...

"Which non-expression is this?" I quipped.

"We know what we're supposed to," she said. "When we have more information, we'll react." She turned her attention back to her tablet as I went back to working on the laptop I had in front of me now; doing my best to distract myself from thinking about what Steve and Bucky were doing at the Hub. I absentmindedly scratched two of my scars as I messed around on the computer.

"All right, clear out. I need to run some diagnostics then reboot," I heard May say. I looked up as she walked past Simmons and I, thinking she was talking to the soldiers.

"That means you two. Off," she clarified. I closed the laptop as Simmons grabbed her stuff.

"You guys may be okay with being in the dark, but I'm not into it. I need answers. And I know just the person who has them," I whispered to Simmons as we exited.

"Who?" Simmons asked, giving me a worried look.

"Coulson. I'm obviously talking about Coulson," I reassured her.

********************************************

"Hey. Fancy seeing you here!" I called out to Coulson as I chased him down at The Hub.

"Skye, I told you I'd look into the file about your parents," Coulson sighed in frustration.

"No, I know. That's not why I'm here. I wanted to know more about Ward and Fitz's mission. Simmons is seriously starting to unravel without Fitz!"

We looked over to see Simmons hurrying along the hallway trying to catch up to us.

"I know it's hard to hear but you don't have clearance," Coulson told me, his eyes softening the slightest bit.

"But I have eyes," I responded, hurriedly moving so that I was standing in front of him and stopping him from walking. "I saw six squads in full tactical gear, three crates of RPGs, and a full crew of analysts head to operations. Are you really telling me that has nothing to do with Ward and Fitz's mission? If I'm right give me a signal by not saying anything," I said, joking at the end to lighten the mood.

"Trust the system," Coulson said, stepping around me and walking off. I let him go with a shocked look as I sighed and crossed my arms; Simmons appearing next to me with a smile.

"How did it go?"

"Nothing. He's acting like a robot version of himself right now!" I exclaimed. "If we want the truth, we've got to get it ourselves!" I declared, scratching my scars distractedly as I failed to notice the hidden pairs of eyes that were on us.

"Okay. How would you suggest..." Simmons paused as she saw me already nodding my head at her. "Oh, wait. No. No."

"Yes!" I told her.

"No! I can't be a part of your bad girl shenanigans. I like following the rules and doing what's expected of me. It makes me feel nice!" I rolled my eyes at her.

"Simmons, wake up! Ward and Fitz went on a top-secret, two man operation and look," I pointedly glanced at the men in tactical gear walking among us. "There are more men. And either it's a bigger deal and they're not telling us, or something went wrong out there. And maybe there's nothing we can do to help but we’ve got to know if there is. What if they're injured or being tortured somewhere right now?" I wouldn't be able to handle it if anything happened to Ward and Fitz that I could have helped prevent!

"Fitz. Tortured?" The thought seemed to rouse her attention. 

"Believe me, it's not an experience I'd recommend he have..." I mumbled under my breath, giving her a pointed look, glad to see that she hadn't heard me.

"What exactly do you have in mind?" she asked.

Steve’s POV

I was leading Bucky down the halls of one of Shield’s main bases, pointing out the few pieces of new technology that I actually knew how to explain. I smiled, happy to have him back in my life now. We turned a corner and I felt Bucky’s back bump into mine as I froze in my tracks. It was her! I resisted the urge to pinch myself and confirm that I was indeed awake as I stared at my, well our, soulmate. What was she doing here! 

Bucky and I frowned as we watched the members of her group pass through one of the doorways, only for her to be magnetically stopped by some sort of bracelet that she had wrapped around her wrist. What was that? And why was it stopping her from going through? I nudged Bucky as we both continued to stare at her in shock and amazement. Her face had haunted our dreams for the last six months; causing me to blush red whenever I thought of her, Bucky, and I together. 

We silently observed as she huffed and pouted in the most adorable fashion before eventually joining two of her friends while they waited outside. One of them, the guy, walked off and came back with a cart full of tech stuff.

Bucky and I grinned widely as we watched the man struggle over and over to get his cart through the sliding glass doors. It was quite funny! My heart raced as I heard my soulmate’s laugh echoing through the hall towards Bucky and I. It was the most angelic sound I had ever heard...she truly was everything her nickname claimed her to be. An Angel. 

I had been surprised when Tony had played back news footage a few weeks back of her and some hooded stranger saving several people from a burning building. Unfortunately, that was the one and only sighting of our soulmate that he had managed to find in the last six months - and until now, we had no idea where she was or how to find her. But suddenly, here she was!

We followed her as she made her way over to a large plane, but paused as she entered; knowing we would not be able to get away with following her that far. I shared a look with Bucky as we waited nervously for her to reappear; squabbling over the best way to approach our soulmate.

When she finally exited the plane though, she was moving so quickly that even with our super speed, we had a hard time catching up with her - the both of us panicked when we lost track of her. I sighed in relief as I finally spotted her a few minutes later, talking to the young women she had been with earlier.

Bucky and I glanced at one another with worry as we overheard part of their conversation. It sounded like our soulmate was worried about some friends of theirs. I felt a sense of pride swell in my chest, though, at her clear determination and desire to help. I growled and stepped forward, however, when I heard her muttering about torture not being fun; guessing that she was thinking about what Hydra had done to her.

She hadn’t talked to any of us about her experience with Hydra; but our own was enough to know that whatever it had been, wasn’t good. I didn’t want to wait any longer to talk to her, but I felt a hand stop me and looked over to Bucky in confusion.

“Not yet,” he said. I frowned but stepped back into the shadows. Why did Bucky want to wait? It had to be killing him as much as me - being so close to our soulmate and yet so far! So why had he stopped me?

********************************************

In-Line Comments

\- let me know if you want me to try and work in any of her other soulmates into the second part of this episode!  
\- comment, like, and share your thoughts! Don't be shy!


	13. The Hub (Part 2)

Natasha's POV

I squeezed in after Clint as we made our way through the vents at The Hub. I grumbled, not preferring this particular mode of transport but letting Clint drag me along out of sheer boredom. The last six months had been torture for me, well all of us...finding our soulmate - only to have her disappear on us! It was driving Clint, Tony, and I crazy that we hadn't been able to track her down after all this time - except for one measly recording of her saving a bunch of people from a burning building down in LA; which had both warmed my heart and made it race in fear. What if Hydra managed to locate my, our, soulmate before we could! 

And why the hell could two master assassins and a tech genius not track her down! Someone had to be helping her! It was clear that she; like me, had spent her childhood being raised in a very controlled environment; and I knew from personal experience, that she should have made more than a few mistakes by now if she was truly on her own. It had taken me several years to start getting used to life on the outside; let alone how to properly cover my tracks when I didn't want to be followed!

Skye’s POV

"Okay, you have the flash drive. Go," I instructed Simmons, motioning for her to enter through the door I was not allowed past. "I programmed it with a decoy crawler. It'll use my browser history to simulate my usual online activity, so while Shield thinks I'm trolling Reddit and Facebook with the laptop they gave me –" I started to say, my voice now reaching her on the other side of the glass door through our earpieces.

"You'll be hacking the files for Ward and Fitz's mission," Simmons finished for me.

"Right. And remember, once you plug it in you'll only have about –"

"Three minutes before Shield catches on."

"Do you realize that you keep finishing my sent –"

"Your sentences. I know, I'm sorry. Bad habit." I rolled my eyes at her but let the matter go, as I smiled awkwardly towards two people who had just rounded the corner.

"This is actually a bit thrilling," I heard Simmons say in a hushed but excited tone; not noticing that the two people who I had smiled at had stopped in their tracks and were now staring at me with wide-eyed expressions.

"Ah, good. I'm glad. Now we've just got to figure out a way to get the panel open!" I told her, still oblivious to the fact that I was now being watched - but now, by four pairs of eyes, not two.

"Don't worry, I made a special something. It's what we do," Simmons reassured me.

I couldn't see her, but I could hear the whirring sound of the panel opening up on the wall.

"All done."

"Really? Wow, okay. Uh, now just find a USB port!" I exclaimed, so focused on the task at hand to realize that I had an audience listening carefully to everything I said; two of whom had super hearing and were able to listen in on Simmons' side of the conversation as well.

"Okay," I heard Simmons confirm. I waited with baited breath, sucking in a gasp as I heard a man's voice speaking in the background of her feed.

"Agent Simmons?"

"It's fine. Just play it cool!" I advised her, sensing that she was probably panicking.

"Hello, Mr. Agent Sitwell, sir. May I help you?" I rolled my eyes at her attempt to play it cool as I continued to listen in.

"Call me Jasper."

"Uh, what brings you to this restricted hallway so late at night?"

"I could ask you the same thing."

"No, don't."

"Simmons, focus. Just make up an excuse!" I cried out in exasperation. Though I had to remind myself that I had been just as nervous as her when I had been caught by Ian Quinn a few weeks back.

"I was just on my way to the loo. I could swear it was two rights and a left, but is that it here?" I listened to her tell Agent Situp, or well, or whatever it was. 

"That's a wall panel. Why are you accessing it?"

"Don't spiral. Just say something. Anything," I prompted. 

"You certainly have a gorgeous head, don't you?" Did she really just say that?! I hissed under my breath, not knowing that anyone had heard me.

"I like men that are about my height but heavier than me." She did not just say that! I growled out in disbelief.

"Stop talking. Stop!" I cried out, forgetting to keep my voice down.

"Agent Simmons, do you have authorization to access that panel?"

"Say yes. Yes you do!" I whisper-yelled into my earpiece.

"Oh! Y-of course."

"Great, yeah," I mumbled. We are so going to get caught and sent to Gitmo!

"Of course. Um, I certainly have it right here in my bag - He's on to me!" I heard Simmons say.

"Stop talking! He can hear you!" I bounced on the balls of my feet as I barely managed to contain my emotions.

"Are you on comms with someone? This is Agent Sitwell, I need an escort." I groaned loudly as I heard the man on Simmons end.

"Oh! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Simmons voice echoed in my ears - as did the sound of her Night-Night gun. 

"Oh my God! Oh, my God!" I yelled as my eyes widened in disbelief. Please tell me she didn't do what I think she did!

"Okay, okay," I heard her muttering to herself.

"I've definitely shot Agent Sitwell. Good, good, good," she rambled nervously to me as she walked back into my line of sight. "Was that all right?" I stared at her incredulously. 

"That was terrible. You are terrible at this. That was a total meltdown! And here I thought I was bad at lying!"

"The Night-Night gun was right there, and I –" she paused taking a deep gasping breath.

"We need help. You need to go get May!" I told her.

"May?! No!"

"Listen, that flash drive will only give me a few minutes of access to The Hub's mainframe to find out what happened to our boys so just go and get May, okay?" I told her. "Just tell her it was an accident."

"I'm going to be court-martialed!" She declared as she started off towards the plane to get May.

"I hope this -" I started to say as I sighed heavily and turned around. 

"- works..." my body tensed up as I finally realized I had company...and not just anyone...I'd recognize that bright red hair anywhere - it was Natasha; and she wasn't alone.

"W-what are, what are you doing here?" I said, coughing nervously as I slowly backed away from Natasha and Clint. I froze as I stumbled into a third body. 

"You, y-you're here?" I stared into Steve's insanely blue eyes for who knows how long before finally coming to my senses. I twisted myself around and started off in the opposite direction, only to find myself blocked again; this time by Bucky. 

"Okay, you guys really need to stop doing that!" I mumbled as I stumbled backwards once more. I looked up at all four of them, shifting uncomfortably as they stood hovering over me in silence. "Seriously, somebody say something!" I said eventually. I fidgeted with my hands, not knowing what to do with them.

"Um, h-how've you been?" Clint asked, scratching the side of his head.

"Good, fine - great! Yeah, I'm doing really well? No, that wasn't a question, that was a statement. I'm doing just swell! Perfectly swell; and isn't that such an interesting word! Crap, I’m totally rambling! Wait, did I say that out loud? I’m such an idiot - shit I said that out loud too...I'm sorry about just disappearing like that - I didn't mean to upset any of you or make anyone feel like I didn't appreciate all your help...because I did! I really did! But...um, I, well...I just needed a change of scenery I guess, I don't know - h-how have you been?" I cursed silently as random words began tumbling out of my mouth. 

"So, are we just going to ignore the fact that you and your friend just shot a Shield Agent?" Steve said harshly. Well I guess I shouldn't have expected any less from Captain America - the national poster boy for following the rules!

"Oh, yeah, that? That was just a - a huge misunderstanding! Nothing to worry yourselves over - oh, look, there's Simmons with Agent May! I-I'm just gonna go see if they need any help!" I babbled, turning to dart off. But Simmons and May were too fast and unfortunately, reached me far sooner than I could get to them...

"Oh, wow! You're...wow!" Simmons exclaimed, staring in awe at Steve, Bucky, Natasha, and Clint.

I tilted my head in confusion as everyone glanced at me as if they were waiting for something.

"Oh! Right! Introductions! How remiss of me! Um, Simmons, May...this is Steve, Bucky, Natasha, and Clint...Steve, Bucky, Natasha, Clint, meet Jemma and Agent May!" I said, awkwardly. I didn't know if May and I were on good enough terms for me to use her first name so I opted for not risking it.

"Well, I see the Cavalry has finally met the original Cavalry," Natasha commented as she looked between me and May. I frowned at her, wishing she hadn't brought that up; seeing how May glanced up sharply at her when she said this. She is so going to murder me and dump my body in a ditch; assuming Shield, or Hydra, or Steve (and the others), or the agent Simmons shot, didn't get to me first!

********************************************

"All right, boys. Let's find out where you really are!" I said as I opened my laptop 15 minutes later in the privacy of the room Natasha and May had led us to after Steve and Bucky had properly hid the unconscious agent from sight.

I scratched one of my scars as I glanced up to  see Natasha staring at me apologetically. I glared at her, still peeved that she had ended up telling May all about how I had met/saved her and the other wackos - meaning that now May also knew about me and my powers. Ugh, that's three people too many! At least Simmons hadn't heard them...I was still paranoid that she would want to experiment on me...

I shook my head and focused on the numbers and letters rolling across my screen before the menu page popped up. The options were: Current Missions; Ops Analysis; Tech; Classified Data L5; Classified Data L4; Redacted Documents; Facility Systems; and Mission Archive. I clicked on the Current Missions tab and then made way through another series of options before finally landing on the file that I was looking for. I checked my phone to see that I only had 1 minute and 11 seconds left. I continued to scroll through until there were only 46 seconds left by the time I managed to narrow down the search parameters to the correct date.

"Okay. There it is...if I could just access the raw file!" I whispered to myself as I located the redacted document I had shown Coulson the other day. I sighed and looked at my phone again, 34 seconds. "Oh crap. I don't have any time." My personal search would have to wait...

I stared at the computer for a couple of seconds then started hitting keys quickly as I hunted down the information on Ward and Fitz's mission. 

There were some beeping noises coming from the computer as the map on the screen lit up areas in green with red triangles. Then one of the blue areas lit up and a pop-up appeared over it. It said: 2 MAN INFIL TEAM; TIMETABLE: 08:00; EXTRACTION: - 

"Oh my God..." I declared, sitting back in my chair, completely stunned. "No extraction! Excuse me everyone while I go and chase down that fearless leader of ours, Coul -"

I blinked in surprise as May strode over and shut down my laptop; grabbing me by the arm as she all but dragged me out of the room and into the hallway before I could so much as finish my sentence.

"What the hell, May!" I cried out, yanking my arm out of her grasp; no longer caring if I used my super strength to aid me in the task - seeing as she knew now.

"You cannot mention Coulson's name to anyone who is not a direct member of our team!" I stared at her with a blank look on my face.

"Why the hell not? Everyone here is Shield!" She gave me one of her patented May glares before responding.

"That's classified to non-agents," she said, stoically.

"Fine, then I'll just be on my marry way, though here's a thought - maybe I'll just run down the halls shouting his name and someone else will give me a straight answer!" I said; half joking.

"This is not a joking matter Skye! Shield keeps secrets for a reason! Steve and Bucky, and Tony, especially Tony - they can never know that Coulson is still alive! And neither can Natasha or Clint; as much as I wish it weren't so."

"What do you mean, 'still alive'?! None of them know that Coulson is alive? Are you telling me that they think he's dead! And does that mean everyone thinks he's dead? How is that even possible?" I could barely comprehend what she was telling me. How could Coulson be dead to the world when he was traipsing all over the world with us on missions? This was making no sense! 

"Look, I don't have time to explain the mystery that is Nick Fury and his crazy way of doing things - right now, I just need you to swear that you will not let Steve, Bucky, Tony, Natasha, or Clint, or anyone else for that matter, know that Coulson is alive and breathing! Ok?"

"Ok, geesh, I promise! It's not like I'm buddy buddy with them and we all the time! I met them once six months ago and then again today - which for the record, I'm not exactly thrilled about!"

May glanced at me in surprise. 

"Wait, so Natasha was right? She told me you've been hiding from her and the others for the past few months; but I told her she was crazy to think you didn't want anything to do with them. But she was right? Why don't you want to talk to them, Skye? I mean I can't imagine what it'd be like to have more than one, I’m sure it’s a lot to get used to, but come on! You have to face them at some point! Coulson makes me want to stab myself at times, but even I would never think to avoid him for more than a few weeks! How can you do that to them? To yourself?" 

"No I don't; and not that it's any of your business, but I just don't get why they want to get to know me so bad! I mean I know Fury wants me to work with them eventually but I keep telling him I don't want to! I'm not like them! They are heroes, I'm not...and hold up, what the hell are you even talking about! I'm not harming them or myself by choosing to not associate myself with them! I'm just some random girl who helped them out in a pinch!" I forced myself to stop talking as I was working myself up into a fit. I scratched my scars in irritation as several of them burned. 

"You don't know, do you?" May said slowly and quietly. 

"Don't know what? What else am I missing? I think this trip to The Hub has made it clear that there are a lot of things I don't know, so you gotta be more specific, May!" I grumbled. She just glanced at me, shaking her head.

"It's not my place to say..."

I rolled my eyes, throwing my hands up in frustration.

"Fine, well feel free to fill me in if you ever change your mind! I'm going to go find Coulson now like I initially planned. You going to stop me?" I glared at her as I crossed my arms.

"No, so long as you remember to keep Coulson's existence a secret," she said, her face back to her normal unbreakable stone. 

"Whatever, I already said I would. I'll just add it to my ever growing list of secrets!" I stalked off down the hallway, gritting my teeth and ignoring the heat from my scars as I strode into Coulson's office and informed him that there was no extraction team for Ward and Fitz.

"What did I tell you?" Coulson looked rightfully pissed, as did I.

"You told me to trust the system. And the system sent Ward and Fitz in there to die!"

Natasha's POV

Steve, Bucky, Clint, and I watched as Skye; as our soulmate was now apparently going by the name of, typed on her laptop, sharing the occasional glance between one another. We were all preoccupied with thoughts of our mutual soulmate and it wasn't until she declared there was no extraction team for her friends, that we were brought out of our fantasies and back to reality. 

I frowned as May suddenly grabbed my soulmate by the arm and dragged her out of the room. May might be one of the few people in this world that I trusted, but no way was she treating my soulmate roughly! 

I could tell that Steve and Bucky were about to follow, but I motioned for them to keep Simmons company; in case she decided to shoot anymore agents while unsupervised, while Clint and I snuck back into the vent system to do what we did best - spy.

"Clint, I don't think that Skye knows who were are...she may not even know what a soulmate is! How could we not have thought about that being a possibility before now! It would explain everything! I mean I doubt Hydra bothered to explain the concept of soulmates to her! And who knows how long they’ve had her!”

"Well yeah, Natasha, but how could she not recognize our words?! They are written all over her skin! That has too mean something to her even if she doesn’t understand the concept!” Clint asked. I shrugged.

"Maybe they are on her back or somewhere else she can’t see? I don't know! But either way, it doesn't seem like she knows we are her soulmates! What do we do? Should we tell the others? And what was that about Coulson being alive? When I get my hands on that man he is definitely going to wish he really was dead! I can't believe he wouldn't tell us he was still alive! I mean it's us!"

"Natasha, you know Fury, I'm guessing he has a good reason for not letting us in on that secret, or at least he better! Otherwise he's gonna get an earful from me! And I don't know, I don't think we should tell Tony...least not until we have more information. Skye seems to be working with Shield now, and Tony is notorious for being unable to keep a secret, I don't want to risk Hydra finding her again...plus, you know the others wont like that she’s working for Shield! It’s dangerous! And I don’t like it either, but if she really doesn’t know who we are, then she’s certainly not going to like everyone telling her not to join the fight against Hydra! She’d probably run away again...” I nodded slowly, seeing the sense in what he said. 

Skye's POV

"I told you I'd get answers about your family!" Coulson said exasperatedly.

"That's not what I was looking for! I was trying to find out what was happening with Ward and Fitz," I clarified.

"That's a classified operation."

"It's a suicide mission! I saw it all, the troop placements, the aerial assault. Once Ward and Fitz disable that device there's going to be a huge attack on that compound, with no extraction plan, and you hid that from us!" I glared over at him as we walked back into The Hub. 

Coulson finally seemed to lose his calm, grabbing me by the arm and pushing me into an open room. 

"I didn't hide anything from you. You don't have the clearance to know that."

"Is that really what Shield's all about? Level 5’s are more expendable than Level 8? Is that all we are, just a number to you? If so, Fury will never get me on board..."

"Are you done?"

"I don't know, am I?"

"If Shield keeps a secret from you it's for a good reason!"

"So they can hold all the secrets? Like, I don't know - just off the top of my head, the fact that everyone thinks you are dead?!"

"Don't interrupt. You just hacked a Level 8 secure server, saw operational plans that you have no context for. If details get out, the whole operation could be compromised. Lives could be lost, Ward and Fitz among them," Coulson exclaimed, his wide-eyed expression the only hint I received that I had shocked him with my recently discovered knowledge about him.

"I know! Those are two people we care about. On the plane, you're always telling me to think outside the box, so I went off book 'cause I was trying to watch their backs!" I told him.

"Our team can go off book because there is a book. A Hub. An organization watching our backs. You claim you want to be a part of that, a Shield agent. Do you?"

"Yes!" I huffed; extremely frustrated. I may not want to join Tony and the others as Fury wanted, but I did want to become an agent at the very least..

"Because someday, I may have to trust you with a secret, and I need to know that you can keep it."

"Well I am keeping the fact that you are alive a secret now, so I think that should count for something!"

Coulson started to walk away.

“Can I ask you one question?”

Coulson stopped walking away, turning to face me.

“What?”

“Did you know, there was no extraction plan for Ward and Fitz?”

He stared at me for a beat.

“That's classified.”

He turned and walked out. I couldn’t be sure, but I got the feeling he hadn’t known...

Clint’s POV

Natasha and I met up with Coulson as he stormed into the control room where Agent Hand was currently located. I watched his face pale as he glanced at the two of us; knowing we would soon be chewing him out for letting us believe that he had died.

“Agent Sitwell is in the infirmary. Apparently a member of your team rendered him unconscious,” Hand said as the three of us entered.

“A misunderstanding. I'll handle the matter internally,” Coulson replied.

“Tranquilizing an agent does not qualify as a misunderstanding!” 

“You're right. But being told there's an extraction team in place when, in fact, there isn't, that does. I'm Level 8. I'm entitled to information regarding the welfare of my team. You should have told me!” 

“Seemed I didn't have to. And what would that have changed, Agent Coulson? You yourself have designed dozens of operations like this. You know how this works.”

“Usually with an extraction plan,” Coulson pointed out. 

I kept my mouth shut. Natasha and I preferred to work alone and never needed an extraction plan, but we were also aware of the fact that none was being provided for us...

I found myself getting angry that my soulmate’s team members had been sent on a mission not knowing this fact. I had been receiving strong emotions from Skye through our soul bond since the moment she had said my, our, words, and mostly what I felt was her worry and fear for her friends - amongst other things - things that sent my pulse racing late at night...

It had quickly become clear that my amazing soulmate had a huge heart. If she was worried, than that meant I was worried. It was almost unbelievable; considering how little time I had spent with her, and the fact I barely knew her; but I didn’t want her getting hurt anymore than she already had during her time with Hydra. 

If Hand was willing to send these two agents in with no extraction plan, how soon was it before she was sending Skye; my soulmate, into unknown danger with no backup?! That was not going to happen!

“Barton, Romanoff, you never have an extraction plan!” Hand exclaimed, waving her hand at Natasha and I.

“Yeah, but we know that going in!” I growled angrily at her, causing her eyes to widen slightly in fear. I was extremely intimidating when angry; a fact I was very proud of.

“Agent Fitz is unproven in the field, and knowing would've caused him to lose focus or courage!” she said, trying to defend her actions.

“That should've been my call!” Coulson stated.

“I wasn't sure you'd comply. You team includes an electronically tagged non-agent who is notorious for leaking secrets, which reminds me, how did you get this information again?” I hissed in fury at her mention of my soulmate. 

“I know what the safety of a thousand men is worth. I know the importance of taking the Overkill device out of play. But I also know my men, and what they're worth! The decision to go in should have been theirs to make,” Coulson said, furiously.

“Perhaps. But you need to trust the system, Agent Coulson.”

She turned and walked away; leaving the three of us seething with rage. That women had no survival instincts if she thought she could get away with pissing off two assassins and Coulson...

********************************************

Skye’s POV

“You got information, now we react,” May said, nodding approvingly to me as she, Simmons, and I met up in the cargo hold of The Bus as it began to take off.

“We're gonna get our guys!” I said, happily.

“Somebody has to,” said May, rolling her eyes.

“What about the Shield assault?” Simmons asked.

“We won't interfere. You don't need a battalion for an extraction. Three can pull it off,” May told her.

“Four is better.” 

We all quickly looked up to see Coulson standing on the walkway area above the cargo hold, looking down at us with a little grin.

“You're in? I thought we all have to be Level 8 to discuss this?” I said.

“We're not discussing anything,” said Coulson, raising his brows. 

I smirked and shared a pleased look with Simmons and May.

3rd Person POV

“It's the extraction team!” Fitz cried out in excitement as he and Ward watched The Bus hovering above their heads.

“Better. It's The Cavalry!” Ward declared, not knowing just how accurate his statement was.

Skye’s POV

“You know, for a second there I thought I'd have to find a new supervising officer!” I said as I reentered the cargo hold; punching Ward’s arm “lightly”.

“Sorry to disappoint!” he replied with a smirk. I rolled my eyes at him. “Truth is, I was in good hands,” he added, glancing over towards Fitz. Aww, they bro bonded! How sweet!

I headed up to my bunk and spent the next few hours sitting on my bed with my pillow in my lap; lost in thought.

I glanced up as I heard footsteps approach, to find that Coulson was standing in my doorway.

“Hey. I was thinking about today, and I'm really sorry –” I hurried to tell him.

“I just wanted to let you know that I didn't forget about what you asked me back at The Hub,” he said. I stared at him, confused.

“Um, what do you mean?”

“The un-redacted file about your past. I found it.”

I sucked in a shaky breath and scooted closer to the edge of the bed.

“Oh. W-what did it say?” 

“The document wasn't about you directly. It was about the person who dropped you off at the orphanage. Turns out, it was a Shield agent.” I stared at him.

“A Shield agent?” 

I stood up; looking at him; feeling a whole range of mixed emotions.

“Why? I mean, who? What does that mean? I –”

“The agent was unidentified. We don't know if she was your mother or if she just found you on a doorstep.” I paused as his words registered.

“Mother?” I couldn’t help smiling at this word. “It was a woman?”

“I put in a request to dig further into the files for any related materials, but right now that's all I have. I'm sorry.”

I shook my head a bit.

“Sorry? Thank you!” I leaned forward, wrapping my arms around his neck, hugging him. “Thank you so much!”

Coulson's face was hard to read as he let out a deep sigh. I broke the hug, giving him a hopeful look, which he returned with a small smile before exiting. 

I flopped back down on my bed, getting lost in a whole new set of thoughts.

********************************************

In-Line Comments

\- Hope you liked the new POVs! Wasn’t sure how they turned out.  
\- If it wasn’t clear, I was hinting that Coulson and May are soulmates! Hope people like that idea?   
\- As always, comment, like, and follow!


	14. The Well

Skye's POV

"You guys may think it's old news, but it's new...news to everybody else. So, Asgardians are aliens from another planet that visited us thousands of years ago?"

I was holding a box while Coulson and I walked around our latest crime scene. Coulson must have seen something; bending down to pick it up and placing it in the box.

"Or more."

"And because we couldn't understand aliens, we thought they were Gods?"

We passed by May who was kneeling on the floor above an artifact; testing it.

"That's where our Norse mythology comes from."

I let out a deep sigh.

"That's too crazy. Do you think other deities are aliens, too?" Hydra hadn't taught me about any of this stuff! Almost everything I knew about other cultures and religions I had learned on my own after I escaped from them.

Coulson walked past me and dropped something into my box.

"Vishnu for sure, right? Ohh, what about Mount Olympus and all the Greek Gods and Goddesses?" I liked them best. Zeus with his lightning bolts, Athena and her wisdom, Artemis with her love for the hunt, and Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty, and all the others! There were so many. I didn't know what it was exactly, but something about the legends of the Greek gods and goddesses resonated with me more so than the other mythologies out there.

"You know, it'd be nice if, for once, Thor and his people sent down the God of cleaning up after yourself. They probably have a magic broom for this kind of thing." I had never met this Thor, but these Asguardians only seemed to bring destruction in their wake...

"I just wish they'd left their alien ship behind!" I commented.

"So we can clean that up, too?"

"So we could go inside, take a peek under the hood, maybe take it for a spin. Come on, you're telling me piloting an alien ship isn't on your bucket list?" I asked May.

May gave an intrigued look at this notion. 

"I can't think of a single time when anything alien in human hands ended well!" Coulson pointed out.

He put another piece into the box I was holding.

"Wouldn't mind getting my human hands on Thor. He looks so dreamy..." I had only seen a few pictures from his first landing on Midgard. But from what I had seen, he was very impressive. So were Tony, Steve, Clint, Bucky, and Natasha though. I was still dreaming about them, even more now that I had run into four of them recently at The Hub. I blinked and tried to refocus. 

"Sure, he's handsome, but –" Coulson started to say.

"No, he's dreamy!" May cut in.

I shot Coulson a "I told you so" look before following after May as she walked off.

********************************************

"Anything else? Details? Anything that might help us to find these people or where they might be hiding?" I heard Coulson say to one of the Rangers through his earpiece. 

"Sir, doesn't look like they're hiding," I informed him from my spot in the Planning Room on The Bus. I was watching a news broadcast, which looked to be footage of a riot. 

"Sending to your devices, now," May added to Coulson as she sent them the recording. 

"The rioting has left 20 injured, 3 in critical condition. Reports indicate that the group of about a dozen was led by this man and woman," a female reporter was saying. "And although their motive was unclear, their message was hauntingly spelled out on the streets of Oslo."

May and I gave each other a worried look.

There was a fire on the street. The fire was in the form of letters and they spelled out "We are Gods".

********************************************

"Jakob Nystrom, 30. Girlfriend, Petra Larson. Leaders of a Norse Paganist hate group," Ward filled us in after he, Coulson, Simmons, and Fitz had rejoined May and I on The Bus.

"And their numbers are growing thanks to what happened in Greenwich and thanks to the internet. Yay, internet," I said sarcastically. 

"Norse Paganist?" Simmons asked.

"Obsessed with anything derived from Norse mythology, stories of Asgard," I explained. 

Ward picked up the 3-D model of the rod that Fitz printed out.

"And now a weapon," he commented.

"The scan accounted for only one side. Too much damage to the tree for a complete reproduction," Fitz said.

"But, see here, it's clearly broken on both ends," Simmons pointed out.

"So there are more pieces?" asked Ward.

"Yeah, two at least," Fitz answered.

"Which means Sid and Nancy may be looking for a complete set," I said.

"The markings?" Ward asked as Coulson and May entered the lab.

"Asgardian symbolism. Hard to translate with our limited knowledge," Coulson told us, taking the rod and checking it out.

"You should give your buddy the God of Thunder a shout. He gets his powers from his hammer, right? What if this is his nail to the hammer?" I said.

"I already did. Director Fury told me he's off the grid. And if he has a cellphone, we don't have the number."

"Shied's investigations are on the trail of Nystrom and his followers," May chipped in.

"We're charged with identifying the object and finding any other pieces before they do," declared Coulson. "They seem to have some advantage. They found this thing in 150 square kilometers of Norwegian forest," he added as an afterthought.

"Guys, what if it called to them with magic?" I suggested with raised brows, my eyes large and excited.

May gave me a "be real" look in response.

"We know it's Asgardian, so the rules are a little bendy here!" I continued. I knew more than anyone on this plane that it wasn't such a crazy idea!

Everyone seemed uncomfortable with the notion of it being magic though. 

"Just because we don't understand something yet doesn't mean we should regress back to the dark ages, talking of magic and fairy tales," Simmons said as Fitz scoffed his agreement. I caught his eyes for a brief moment as he glanced over at me. I winced, wishing that there weren't so many people out there who knew the truth about me now. If Hydra was ever ableto get their hands on Fitz or the others, I was doomed. 

"Actually, that's exactly what we're going to do!" Coulson stated.

"Really?" I looked at him in surprise.

"When we first found the hammer in New Mexico, I consulted one of the world's leading experts on Norse mythology. Elliot Randolph, a professor at a University in Seville. We'll leave immediately. Maybe he can tell us more about these markings."

********************************************

"Now, based on these runes, I'd say I'm looking at a piece of the Berserker Staff," I heard Randolph tell Coulson. I was using my earpiece to eavesdrop on their conversation.

My ears twitched eagerly as I listened to the professor tell the tale of the Asguardian warrior who left the Berserker Army when he fell in love with humanity and life on Earth. I smiled at this. Supposedly, the soldier fell so much in love that when his army returned to Asgard, he stayed behind, breaking his staff into three pieces; hiding each one in a different location.

It reminded me of this one story I had come across while reviewing an obscure website on the web. It mentioned a child of Zeus escaping or being sent from (that part hadn't been specific) Mt. Olympus. It also had not been clear who her mother had been. The website listed several possibilities; one being that Zeus had fallen in love with a human female, but considering how Greek mythology was filled with tales of Zeus and his sexual exploits, I was more inclined to believe that the potential baby would have been the result of Zeus's union with yet another one of his relatives. I mean the web was chalk full of stories of him sleeping with and impregnating the women in his life in the most ridiculous ways imaginable! 

But as hard as I searched for more information on the topic, I was never able to dig up anything credible...

Coulson asked whether or not the manuscript had left any clues to the locations, which it turned out, did include three verses: one about a tree, which had clearly already been found. Another was "east of the river, sun overhead, buried in Earth with the bones of the dead." I thought that was a bit macabre. The third one didn't even have a rhyme. But the gist of it was "close to God." That could be anything, couldn't it? Or nothing?

"Now, there have been some recent interesting findings of Norse relics on Baffin Island off the coast of Canada. Yeah, virtual treasure trove of new artifacts," I heard Elliot say.

"We'll start there, then. Thank you, Professor." I turned down the volume of my earpiece as I stood up and prepared for our newest destination.

********************************************

"Did you know there's Mount Thor on Baffin Island?" Coulson's voice reached my supercharged ears as I scanned through message-boards in the Planning Room.

"I did not," Ward replied from the hallway.

"Do you know what's not on Mount Thor? Anything Asgardian at all. Our agents on the ground haven't found a thing. What about you?"

I chuckled slightly at Coulson's irritation but glanced up at him as he directed the second question to me.

"Nystorm's deep-web message boards are just abuzz with psychos," I informed him, pointing to the holocom where I had the messages plastered. "They believe they're gonna ascend to be the Gods of destruction and death. People suck, sir!" I added.

Ward glared at me. "That's your progress, "people suck"?" I stuck my tongue out at him; eliciting an eye roll.

"These people do. And there's also chatter about going underground," I said.

"Could be going incognito or –" Ward started to say.

"Or searching for the next piece," Coulson finished.

"Randolph said to check Viking routes. Find any others?" Ward asked me.

"There's some sites along the Volga River in Russia, some in Kiev, and weirdly, here."

I pressed a few buttons and popped up a map of Seville, Spain, pointing to the area in question.

"In Seville, Spain?" I nodded 

"It's a long shot, but Vikings sacked Seville twice," I informed him as May entered the room.

"We found promising locations with Viking relics; El Divino Nino. A church built on the ruins of an 8th century crypt built on Roman ruins from 206 B.C." she started to tell us.

"East of a river," commented Ward.

"And lots of bones. Let's see what we can dig up. See what I did there?" I smiled at Coulson's attempt to lighten the mood. 

********************************************

"Must be nice, having a mandatory nap time," I overheard Fitz saying to Coulson.

"Siesta isn't mandatory. Just very pleasant. How are you doing, Agent Ward?"

"Wishing I was shorter." I grinned at Ward's response, relishing the fact that my shorter stature was coming in handy for once and not a teasing point like it usually was. "Nothing yet. All my readings are normal," Ward added.

"What about you, Skye? Any luck?"

I looked around at the dark walls of the underground tunnel my flashlight was partially illuminating and shuddered as Hydra memories flashed across my mind.

"I'm lucky my S.O. volunteered to take the super creepy hallway instead of the slightly less creepy dungeon room place - but on the positive side, I'm feeling better about my height now." I glanced down at my tablet as my earpiece remained silent. Geesh, least I laughed at Coulson's attempts at humor! "I got nothing. Sorry, nada," I grumbled into my earpiece.

"Ward, your spectrograph is reading something near you." I frowned at Fitz's warning. That didn't sound good...

"I don't see anything," I heard Ward reply.

"Well, it's right in front of you. Oh, wait. No. Uh, okay, hold on. It's moving – northwest."

I stopped in my tracks, wondering if I should continue or go back and try to help Ward. But as Ward confirmed that he had visual contact, I remembered for the milionth time that there wasn't much I could do to help without revealing myself - though at this point, more people on the plane knew the truth than the two who didn't...but I was still terrified about what Jemma might do if/when she found out and what with Ward finally acting nicer towards me...

I continued forward as I listened to Fitz directing Ward. 

"Ran into some unexpected –" Before Ward could finish his sentence, however, sounds of a struggle were heard, followed by a body hitting the ground and a grunt of pain that I recognized as Ward's.

"Ward, what's happening?" I heard Coulson ask worriedly. I spun around and hurried back the way I came as Fitz told us all that Ward's device had gone down.

"Skye, can you get –"

"Already on it!" I said before Coulson could complete his request.

I turned a corner and looked down before rushing forward.

"Ward!"

He was collapsed on the ground. I reached him but when I bent down and touched him, he let out a loud gasp and quickly scrambled away, almost afraid.

"Hey, hey, hey. Whoa, whoa, who. Grant, calm down. Calm down, please!" I exclaimed, hoping the use of his first name would help bring him to his senses.

He was panting with fright but after a few moments, my words finally seemed to get to him and he calmed a bit. His heavy breathing becoming more steady.

"The staff, he has it," he stuttered out. I frowned, never having seen Ward act this way.

"Somethings wrong with Ward. The staff's gone, someone took it!" I informed Coulson as I helped Ward to his feet.

********************************************

Turns out that someone, was Professor Randolph...

"This is ridiculous," Ward argued. He was sitting on a table in the lab with his shirt off and various monitors attached to his body. Despite his irritation, I caught him smirking slightly when he noticed how my eyes lingered momentarily at the sight of his bared chest. I rolled my eyes at him in response.

"It's anything but. Ward, you passed out. And you were acting not right!" I retorted. Simmons nodded in agreement.

"Coulson ordered me to give you a full work-up, and that's exactly what I'm doing. Um, before you lost consciousness, were you feeling claustrophobic?" She asked.

"Why?"

"She's ruling out a panic attack," Fitz explained.

"I don't panic. Ever." I rolled my eyes again at Ward's declaration. 

"There we go, ruled out," Simmons hurried to say.

"Touching the staff caused it, right?" I asked.

Ward looked at me and nodded a bit.

"Any residual effects? Are you exhibiting any extra s-stregnth?" Simmons inquired.

"Why don't I find out on that guy?" Ward stated, glancing past me and towards the camera feed of the holding cell. Coulson was inside with Elliot. 

"Why don't we not do that?" I suggested nervously.

"What's the last thing you remember before you lost consciousness?" asked Fitz.

"This is a waste of time!" Ward declared.

He angrily got out of the chair, putting his hand on the blood pressure cuff on his opposite arm and pulling it out. "We need to find the staff."

"What exactly do you remember?" Fitz asked as Simmons and I looked at Ward with worry over his display of anger.

"Something I hadn't thought about in a long time."

"Why don't we leave it alone?" I suggested, sensing how irritated Ward was getting about all of our questions.

"Well, I mean he just pulled his arm out of this –" Simmons started to say as she and Fitz began their normal routine of talking rapidly over each other – although this time it was done in quite voices.

"Quiet!"

We all went silent and glanced over at Ward.

"I want to hear this."

He turned his attention back to the monitor showing the holding cell and I stepped closer to join him as we listened in.

"One of my men is hurt, the staff is gone," Coulson was saying.

"I didn't want any of that to happen."

"What did you want? The staff's power for yourself?"

"Nothing like that. You know, I just wanted to be the first to study it. To prove that the Berserkers were actually here, a part of history. You think about that." I watched as Elliot crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. Something about his demeanor nagged at me. He didn't seemed worried or scared of Coulson. In fact, he almost seemed smug.

"Oh, I'm thinking about it."

I blinked as the feed from the holding cell was cut off suddenly. Ward stood up tall and looked around in anger to see who did it.

"What are you doing?" His glare focused on Simmons, who, for her part, didn't look nervous. She kept her voice soft and calm when she spoke to him.

"Your heart rate's rising, adrenaline's spiking. You need to calm down, not get worked up."

He let out a sigh and looked away taking a deep breath. He let the breath out slowly putting his hands on the table in front of him. I leaned in and lowered myself, putting my arms on the table, to look up at Ward.

"The memory, was it about your brother?" I asked.

Ward stared at me with warning in his eyes.

"Drop it."

"Ward, if you need to get it out, I'm here."

"Right, to talk. Because that's what you do, talk...and talk." While he was speaking, Ward was leaning in closer to me, his voice getting heated as he spoke; his eyes flashing with anger and something else I couldn't quite label. I stood up hastily.

"Don't you ever get tired of hearing your own voice?"

When I stood up, he got even closer to me. Stepping forward with my every step back.

"Ward, stop!" I squeaked out as he got closer to me.

"I don't want to stop. I'm tired of stopping myself around you! Just shut up for once in your life!" I cried out in shock as his hands latched around my neck - but unlike my incident with Miles, I wasn't alone this time, and I silently thanked Fitz as he ran forward and managed to pull Ward off of me.

"Well! This makes more sense!" Simmons exclaimed as I massaged my neck as I drew in long breaths of air. "Ward, what you're experiencing, this feeling, it's chemistry."

"Hope so," I said, glaring over at Ward.

"Yeah. Spikes in his adrenocorticotropic hormone. It's like those stories you hear when a mother is able to lift a car to save her baby."

Ward was listening to her but I could tell he was still on edge, probably getting put there by her tendency to prattle on.

"An adrenaline surge can create a massive –"

"Stop talking! Just fix it!" Ward declared.

"I wish I could. We can relieve some of the symptoms. I'm going to give you 10cc of Benzodiazepine."

Ward turned away frustrated.

"Chill pill, good idea." I glanced at him nervously, not liking the idea of him trying to attack me again.

"A sedative? Not gonna happen."

"Yeah, well be reasonable. Look at how you're behaving," Fitz pointed out.

Ward got in close to Fitz intimidating him. I stepped forward, tensing up in case he tried to launch himself at Fitz next.

"And if I'm sedated and we cross paths with those juiced freaks, the ones who flip cars and smash people up, are you going to take them on? Keep us safe? Or am I gonna have to save your ass...again?"

Fitz looked appropriately meek as Ward grabbed his shirt and exited the lab. The three of us looked at one another, at a loss for words, at least for a moment, until Simmons comes up with them. While she spoke, I saw tears in her eyes.

"That was just a biochemical reaction. He didn't mean all that."

"No, I know," I reassured her, but growling under my breath at the fact that he had hurt my new friends and made one of them cry. As for myself, I was breathing heavily as I did my best to hold off the flood of Hydra flashbacks that were threatening to drown me at the moment. 

********************************************

"I had no clue. Did you?" Fitz looked at Simmons and I as we stood in the Planning Room watching as Coulson and Ward revealed the fact that Elliot was actually the Asguardian Berserker who stayed.

"Hidden in plain sight, an actual Asgardian. Brilliant." 

"How long do you suppose he's been on our planet?" I asked.

"A thousand years, maybe more. If we could just cut him open a little bit..."

My heart dropped at this comment and I shot her a worried look as I glanced sideways at Fitz - who at first nodded his head in agreement until he saw me staring wide-eyed at him in panic and realized the cause for the worry on my face. Is it any wonder I don't want Simmons knowing about me anytime soon?! She had just casually mentioned cutting this Asguardian Berserker open as if it was as normal as discussing the weather! 

I mean growing up surrounded by Hydra you would think I’d be used to people talking in such a fashion, especially the maniac of a scientist who actually had cut me open on several occasions - he talked about it all the time, but these last several months with Coulson and his team had started to make me realize how twisted Hydra really was and that their way of life was not as normal as I had been brought up to believe. 

"...get some tissue samples, maybe some bodily fluids, we could find out." I grimaced as I fought the urge to run out of the room and far far away from her.

"Or we could just ask him, weirdo. This is way, way better than the History Channel. I mean this guy has lived through all the scary stuff, the Crusades, the Black Death, Disco." I rambled on, trying to distract myself from thoughts of Hydra experiments as May entered the room holding a tablet. Ever since I had escaped Hydra's clutches I had been reading up on as many things as I could; trying to catch up on everything I had missed in my education. History had been one of my favorite subjects to learn about. That and mythology.

"What are you doing?" I asked her.

"Sealing the interrogation room door. Coulson's orders."

I couldn't help but laugh as we listened to Elliot reciting the tale of how his sexual urges had been his downfall in the 1540's.

"What did it do to me?" I listened closely for the answer to Ward's question.

"It shines a light into your dark places. Doesn't matter if you're human, Asgardian, the effect is the same. Unpleasant.

"'Shines a light", that's no explanation."

"It was forged from a rare metal and reacts to whoever is holding it. Or interacts. I went to such great lengths to make sure that the staff wasn't found. Unfortunately, since the myth was written down, people have been searching for it for centuries."

"I need your help to stop them before they get the last piece of your staff."

"Oh, I'm a pacifist now."

"And you don't want to risk your identity being discovered."

"Listen, I wouldn't worry too much about these angry youths. They always clam down, and eventually, they die of old age. And that is one of the pleasant aspects of life here. Everything changes."

"I'll tell you what's gonna change, your anonymity, unless you help us find the final piece of your staff. You may not know Thor, but I do."

"My first love on this planet was Ireland. There was a monastery and the monks gave a nice, warm place to sleep, some soup and some mulled wine."

"Near God."

********************************************

Ward turned away from Elliot and slammed the case shut, the sudden noise making me flinch slightly as Coulson and I watched Ward stalk to the SUV.

"Are you sure Ward's okay to go out into the field? He's not exactly acting like himself," I asked Coulson.

"But he knows it. He'll be fine."

Coulson walked away. I glanced over at May, still worried about Ward.

"I'm with Coulson."

I nodded, knowing that there wasn't anything else I could say to change their minds.

I sighed and got into the SUV myself and stared out of the window the whole drive to the monastery. Today was just too much of a reminder of why I was keeping my powers hidden and of all the experimentations Hydra had done on me. 

“Well, it's been awhile. I wonder – ah, yes. There it is. Still here,” Elliot said as we entered the monastery and watched him walk to the front of the room where a book was set up on a stand. “Well, the nose isn't quite right, but...”

With my enhanced sight, I managed to see that he was looking at a drawing of a man wearing long robes and holding the staff.

”That's you?” Fitz asked.

“Yeah, they venerated me a bit as a saint.”

“They're idiots,” Ward growled out. I couldn’t help but chuckle. “Where's the staff?”

“It's upstairs.”

We followed Elliot as he lead the way. I trailed behind so that I was walking next to Coulson.

"Is that the normal Ward or the new, angrier Ward? I can't tell," I said quietly. I didn’t like not knowing what to expect from people; especially men - it had never ended well for me.

“It's quiet,” May pointed out once we had all made our way upstairs.

”Why do you think I trusted them with my secret? They take a vow of silence.”

“But when you get them talking, they squeal.” I whipped my head around to see that Jakob had appeared from behind one of the walls holding the staff. My eyes widened as I watched him hold the staff up high and stab Elliot in the chest with it.

“If you want to defeat a God, you must become one.” I stepped back, not liking the psychotic gleam in Jakob’s eyes. It was far to similar to the look Rumlow always gave me. He was also staring at me for some reason as opposed to the others in the group. I stepped back in fear as he pointed the second half of the staff at me. 

I made to step forward though as Ward bent down to Elliot, grabbing the staff sticking out of his chest. After what happened the first time, I was worried about what effect the staff would have on him. The staff once again glowed orange as did Ward's hand – he then threw himself at Jakob and they both went over the banister railing to the floor below.

"We need to help him!" I cried out as Coulson, May, and I watched Jakob pick Ward up and slam him down into the ground. I dashed towards them, May following after me.

We arrived downstairs in time to see Ward pretty effectively being thrown around the room. I grimaced as he hit a wall landing with a hard thud. When he got up May and I saw his face was already pretty battered. He stood up and started hitting Jakob. It seemed those memories made Ward stronger, he now was having no problem hitting Jakob enough to do some damage.

”Grant! Drop the staff!” I cried out.

“Get away from me,” he hissed angrily.

I glanced sideways as May ran up behind me.

“Agent Ward!”

I stepped hesitantly closer to Ward.

“This isn't you,” I said.

The three of us turned when the door was kicked open and the rest of Jakob's group entered the monastery. May grabbed my shoulder and pushed me sideways. I glared, not liking to be touched or her assumption that I couldn’t hold my own. She now knew that I had powers not to mention could probably beat her in a fight, not that we’d had a chance to test that yet.

”Get back!” Ward growled at me. I glared again, but stood back, not wanting to make him any angrier than he already was. 

Ward bent down and took the section of the staff that Jakob dropped, now holding onto two of the pieces. I winced inwardly thinking about how much that must be hurting him. 

The room filled with big rowdy men all yelling at Ward. A few of them managed to catch my eye, however, and I quickly found myself separated from May and Ward as a bunch of the men surrounded me. 

“Well aren’t you just a pretty young thing!” One of them shouted. I easily dodged the punch he sent my way and lashed out with a hard kick to his solar plexus that knocked the air out of his lungs and sent him flying across the room. I grinned wickedly at him as he stared at me in shock.

“Damn, love a girl who puts up a fight. Gonna have fun breaking you in, beautiful!” I glared at the man who spoke, raising a fist up in defiance.

“Not if I claim her first!” Another brute declared from behind me. Before he could finish his sentence, I had spun around and landed a heavy uppercut to his chin, knocking him out cold. I smirked as I turned back around to face the other guys. 

“Who’s next?” I sneered, motioning for one of them to come at me. I smiled at the sudden looks of apprehension on their faces as they all began to attack.

It didn’t take long to take care of them all and I looked up triumphantly from where I stood in the center of unconscious and bleeding men to see that Ward was kneeling on the floor holding both pieces of the staff. All of the men who entered the monastery were in heaps on the floor around him, May, and I. Ward shakily dropped both pieces and collapsed to his elbows. 

I hurried over to him and knelt in front of him.

“Oh, my God. Are you okay?

I put my arm around his shoulders as I helped him up. May walked over towards us and the door opened behind her. Petra was there with the third piece.

“Oh, you've got to be kidding me!” I exclaimed as I rolled my eyes. 

Ward wearily sighed and went to pick up a piece of the staff. Just as he was about to grab it - and before I could reach out, May's hand had grabbed his wrist, stopping him.

“This time, let me help,” she said. I frowned, not liking the idea of standing by and letting the staff also effect her in unimaginable ways. 

Ward dropped his hand and closed his eyes exhausted. 

“Okay,” he agreed. I glanced at him and noticed just how much of a toll holding the staff had taken and clutched his shoulder tighter. 

“Come on,” I told him gently, leading him away from the center of the room and over to one of the corners as far away from the two women as possible. 

I watched in trepidation as May went to the two pieces, hesitated for a moment and then gripped them both. Both pieces glowed orange up into her arms. I noticed the man who entered with Petra had seen what she had done and watched in fear as he rushed at her. I stepped forward desperate to help her but a sudden hand on my wrist stopped me. I hissed at Ward as he fought to hold me back from joining the fight between May and Petra.

It was obvious that Petra knew how to fight, but not the same way May did. She knocked Petra to the ground and Petra lost her piece of the staff. I tensed with worry as I watched May connect Petra’s piece to the one in her left hand. Worry was quickly replaced by panic as May looked at the piece in her right hand and joined that with the other combined pieces completing the staff. 

I broke free out of Ward’s grasp and darted over to her side as Petra got to her feet still loopy from the hit May delivered.

“I am not afraid of you!” Petra stated. She started forward, and for a moment I thought that May would be fine, but just as Petra drew close, May’s knees collapsed on her as she struggled to control the power of the reconstructed staff.

“May!” I cried out. Now, as I mentioned, I’m sort of a kamikaze so instead of running away from danger, I stepped right into it. I tugged and pulled hard until I managed to wrestle the staff out of her hands.

The minute I did, I realized just how much I regretted it. Sure I was happy that May was no longer struggling, but holding the darn thing was definitely no walk in the park - which funnily enough was one of the million things I had on my list of things I wanted to do now that I was free of Hydra.

The orange glow trailed up my arms but something new seemed to be happening. I gritted my teeth against the pain emanating from the staff and tried my best to block out the memories of Hydra as we all watched the orange glow seeping into my veins and slowly getting replaced with an even brighter golden glow. I sighed in relief as the gold replaced the orange inch by inch - and the pain and memories were slowly dulled to a manageable level. The memories, pain and intense rage was still there, but as the staff glowed gold instead of orange, it seemed to move into the back of my mind as I felt a surge of confidence and control steal over me; allowing me to channel the overwhelming anger I had experienced just seconds earlier onto a focused target. 

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of myself in one of the stain-glass windows of the monastery - and if my mind hadn’t been solely locked onto my target, I would have been more surprised and shocked to see the reflection that stared back at me. My body was lit up in bright golden-white light and my eyes were glowing equally bright. 

I twisted my head towards Petra, who looked petrafied in fear as I swooped down on her and struck her down with the staff. Once she was taken care of, I slowly lifted the staff up to eye level, feeling myself slowly being drawn to the power and confidence it was providing me. It was almost too good to let go. After years of never feeling in control of my power - or even my life, holding the staff was incredibly seductive to me. 

My eyes stayed locked on the staff until I suddenly heard Elliot’s voice speaking to me; telling me in a kind and almost caring tone of voice that I was destined to wield great power but not the kind his staff would give me. I blinked slowly as I loosened my grip and let him gently pry the staff out of my hands; quickly dropping it onto the floor. 

I stumbled backwards slightly as I gazed at Elliot’s face and blinked away the golden light from my eyes. My brows raised in confusion at the look of shock and awe that was on his face. He was staring at me like - like...it was hard to describe - it was like recognition, disbelief, loyalty and servitude all rolled into one; not that any of it made any sense... 

I quickly shifted my focus away from his stare that was making me feel very uncomfortable and instead looked over at Ward and May, who gave me a little nod of their heads in acknowledgment, which I returned.

********************************************

“Coulson did that? He just shoved his hand inside?” I asked Fitz-Simmons, not sure if I believed what they had just told me. It was now morning and sunlight was streaming through the monastery windows.

“Well he had to. I froze, didn't know what to do,” Jemma confirmed.

“Hey, you didn't freeze. You just weren't up for the...” Fitz said, trying to reassure her. 

Jemma scoffed.

“Idea of putting your hand inside somebody else's chest,” Fitz finished saying. I grimaced, not liking the idea at all myself, especially not when I knew exactly how it felt to be on the receiving end of someone digging around inside your body. It was not a pleasant experience - and hopefully one I would never have to go through again.

Jemma’s phone rang; it was her parents, who she had been avoiding ever since she had decided to experience skydiving, so she left to go answer it. Once she had left, Elliot came over to us and requested to talk to me alone. I nodded hesitantly to Fitz that I was ok with this, unsure of whether or not I liked the way the professor kept staring at me. It was slightly off-putting to see someone looking at me with that much reverence. 

“Um, so...what’s up?” I asked, at a loss for words.

“You don’t even know who you are, do you?” Elliot asked after Fitz had left.

“Well, that’s kind of a vague and loaded question but um, no not really?” I answered.

“The staff, you held the staff...no mortal human can do that...the intense rage and power it holds is far too strong for them to handle, and yet, you did...” I shrugged lamely, not sure how to respond and unsure where this conversation was going.

“The staff changed colors...I’m sure you noticed that,” he added.

I shrugged again but nodded to confirm that yes, I had indeed noticed that fact.

“Yes, I don’t quite understand that, it glowed orange when Ward and May touched it,” I stated.

“What exactly did you feel when you touched the staff?” Elliot asked, his face as hard to read as ever.

“Um, well a lot of anger and pain, and horrible memories like Ward and May did, but then...I don’t know...it was strange, once the staff started changing colors it was like all of it was pushed back by this overwhelming sense of confidence and power. It was unlike anything I have ever felt before!” I tried to explain. 

“Yes, I can imagine. You have power inside of you...Skye was it? Yes that’s it, I remember now. Your aura reeks of it - and yet, there seems to be something blocking your abilities. I hypothesize that my staff temporarily released that block and gave you a taste of your full potential.”

“I guess that makes sense,” I said, slowly nodding. “But I don’t even know what half my powers are, Hydra did a lot of experiments on me over the years, and I’m constantly discovering new abilities. I try not to use them ever, because most are too dangerous and I can barely control them.” I looked down as I mentioned Hydra. I couldn’t stand the look of sympathy on Elliot’s face.

“You know, Coulson told me they’ve been experimenting on you for a very long time, which would explain the block on your memory as well, since you don’t even know who you truly are.”

“Wait, does that mean that you do?” I asked in surprise.

“I have some theories, but they are only theories and it really isn’t my place to speak them.”

“That’s what everyone keeps telling me!” I huffed exasperatedly. Why will no one ever give me any real answers!

“All I can say is that even for Berserker’s, the staff glows orange. It is said that it only changes color when touched by a divine being.”

“What the hell does that mean!” I was even more confused than before. It sounded like he was hinting at the fact that I was one of those divine beings but that couldn’t possibly be true! I was just your average human - who had been experimented on and given superhuman abilities! That’s all! Right?...

“You will find out when the time is right; not before. I look forward to the day you do. But a word of caution - the amount of power that resides within you, it can easily consume you if you do not learn to control it properly; just like my staff, your powers have the potential to destroy you, and if you are not careful, this planet, or even those beyond this one.” I frowned deeply at his words. Why was he being so vague and mysterious! His sly hints made me want to punch him in the face! 

But before I could, he had walked away from me with nothing but a parting wink and a wave. Ugh. I didn’t have the mental energy to start trying to comprehend anything he had just said to me. It was too much to handle right now! 

********************************************

I walked into the hotel bar and saw Ward sitting at the counter, a drink in front of him, but not drinking it. He appeared to be lost in his thoughts. I strode up to the bar and stood next to him.

"Hey," I greeted. It took a moment, but he finally turned to face me. "I could get used to the turndown service and little mints on my pillow," I commented, lightly.

"Overnights aren't standard."

"We deserve a nice night. You especially!" I replied.

He shrugged his agreement as I looked him over nervously. 

"How are you feeling?" I asked him gently. 

"Not great, though I can’t imagine how you must be feeling. You actually held the full staff." He glanced up at me, then away, then back again as he held eye contact with me for a brief spell.

"I'm sorry. For before." He looked away again, pausing as he stared at my face and the already fading bruise that stained my cheek. "I'm...I'm not that guy," Ward said.

"You're a guy who saves lives! I can overlook a little misplaced rage. No harm, no foul."

"Does everything just roll off your back?" Ward asked, giving me a wry smile.

"No. If it helped, I'd rage all the time, but it doesn't." I sighed, it didn't help that I had to worry about losing control of my powers if/when I got overly emotional. Constantly having to worry about causing accidental damage definitely put a damper on releasing any pent up anger...

"What I saw...It was about my brother," he said, his voice breaking. I opened my mouth to respond with what I had seen, before realizing I couldn’t tell him about Hydra as it would raise too many questions.

I leaned in a bit closer to him. "I figured," I told Ward, reaching out to put my hand on his arm. "I know you're not one to talk but, like I said, I'm here. My shoulder's free," I assured him.

I took my hand away and he gave me a little smile. He took a deep breath and looked down at his drink.

"I'm beat. Another time, maybe," Ward mumbled. I smiled, though I could tell that he wasn't going to talk about it.

"Well, you know where I live!" I replied, trying to lighten the mood. He finished his drink and then walked away, leaving me alone.

I sat at the bar for a little longer, but quickly got up as several men pounced on me when they saw me sitting by myself. I was unlocking the door to my room, when a sound caused me to glance down the hall; just in time to see Ward slipping into May's room...

********************************************

In-line Comments

\- Hehe couldn’t resist the Petra petrafied pun  
\- gonna be trying to get more into Avenger stuff again soon so wanted to get my lovely reader’s perspective on what episodes if any you think should still be included in the story before I do my flash forward to her leaving the plane and joining the avenger’s initiative!   
\- In order for me to flash forward though, I have to figure out how I want her parentage to play out so that I can do the flashbacks properly - as I mentioned I’m thinking greek mythology but not sure if both shld be good/both bad, or one good and one bad? Also not sure if she shld be fathered by zeus, hades, ares, etc, I was thinking zeus that way itd be even more of a link to Thor and lightning/being able to pick up the hammer, and for mother i was thinking, Hera, Athena, Aphrodite, Artemis or if anyone has any other suggestions?   
\- As stated in the story zeus in greek mythology pretty much had sex with like all of his relatives etc so i was thinking some sort of crazy combo to explain/give her a multitude of powers etc but getting overwhelmed trying to contemplate it rn since life has been pretty busy lately.   
\- so yeah if anyone has any suggestions for parentage and what episode of aos I should break away at that’d be great! Until i figure that out i’m going to keep the structure that i have so unless inspiration strikes or someone has a good suggestion it’ll either happen sooner or later so again just feel free to chime in! Think i’m going to add a scene where Clint, Natasha, Steve, and Bucky discuss Skye etc and how they want to proceed with things so if anyone has any thoughts on how that’d go just let me know so that i can try to include it! End of ramble.


	15. Repairs

3rd Person POV

Natasha, Clint, Steve, and Bucky all slid themselves into the end-booth of the late-night New York diner a few days after their run in with their soulmate at the Hub.

“So is anyone going to address the elephant in the room?” Natasha stated after everyone had ordered and were still just sitting in silence. She paused to wait for a response but didn’t get one.

“Okay, look, Clint and I have a theory about why Skye’s been rejecting us, and I think you two have come to the same conclusion. She doesn’t know who we are! I don’t know why or how that’s possible but that’s the most probably explanation. So now that’s out of the way, do we tell Tony or not?” Natasha leaned forward, glaring at her friends, staring them down and demanding answers from them. 

They had all been treading on glass ever since first meeting their mutual soulmate and she was tired of it. Everyone was unsure if they were comfortable with the idea of sharing a soulmate not to mention feeling depressed because they were worried about Skye rejecting them and she was getting mighty tired of all the unspoken tension.

“I vote no,” said Clint.

“We agree,” Steve said, nodding towards him and Bucky. “We all know Tony’s thoughts on Shield and the fact that his ego is larger than that bloody building of his. I know deep down he is happy to have finally met his soulmate but right now he is so pissed off that he hasn’t been able to track her down yet that if we tell him she’s working with Shield he’s going to throw a huge fuss about it and he’s not exactly the best when it comes to being subtle...I don’t want to risk Hydra finding out Skye’s location. Bucky and I don’t like the idea of her throwing herself into danger either, but I also don’t want to risk scaring her off again like last time!”

Bucky glanced at Steve in surprise. “Wow, I think that’s the most I’ve ever heard you say at one time!” Steve rolled his eyes.

“Steve’s right. We overwhelmed Skye last time. I mean, think about it, we can feel what she feels through our bond But she, she’s gotta be getting all five of ours and for all we know, more than that. And I think we can all agree that it’s been overwhelming even for us coping with just her thoughts and feelings alone, I can’t imagine what it would be like to have that multiplied several times over.” Natasha said.

“I feel it every time she’s happy or excited and it warms my heart, but it’s been torture knowing when she’s scared and in fear and not being able to do anything about it!” Bucky mumbled pounding the table in frustration. Everyone nodded their heads in agreement.

“Damn, I can barely sleep at night! You don’t even want to know how many cold showers I’ve had to take! That girl is driving me crazy! I don’t know how much more of this I can take! Yes, I don’t want to scare her away, and maybe she doesn’t know we’re her soulmates, but we all know she’s been thinking about us!” Clint burst out. 

Steve blushed a brilliant shade of red has he recalled the several nights he and Bucky had spent trying to distract themselves from thinking about their beautiful soulmate. He was brought up to be the perfect gentleman, but lately his thoughts had been anything but. 

“I hear ya! My little guy is not very happy with this current situation, especially when I can sense her thinking about us! Isn’t there any way we can get Fury to set up a meeting with her team? Maybe she will open up to us if she’s surrounded by people she’s already learned to trust?” Bucky suggested, grinning slightly as he watched Steve’s face get even redder at his words.

Nat and Clint shared a look, not having told anyone that they knew Coulson was alive. They didn’t want to open that can of worms just yet but until it was, they knew Fury was not likely to let them meet Skye’s team.

********************************************

Skye’s POV

I sighed as I flopped on my bed and flicked my hula dancer girl. Our latest case had been quite the eye opener regarding Shield’s policies regarding individuals on the super secret Index. I had spent the last week in constant fear that my newfound power was going to get me killed. Hannah, the girl we had all thought might have been telekinetic at one point; had in fact been dealing with a love-sick stalker ghost person thing and not telekinetic.

But guess who did turn out to be? Yup, lucky me...which meant that I had spent half my time watching how Hannah’s neighbors had treated her and half the time trying to cover up the fact that objects had been randomly moving like crazy all around me. I also hadn’t been very happy watching Ward and May trying to hide the fact that they were sleeping together. To be fair, they had been very sly about it and I wouldn’t have known if it wasn’t for the fact that I had seen Ward slip into May’s room. 

It wasn’t that I was jealous, it was just that it made my already frustrated mind drift even more towards thoughts of Tony, Steve, Bucky, Clint, and Natasha. 

It was incredibly strange for me to be suddenly having such naughty thoughts. Not only did I barely know them, but after everything Hydra’s men had put me through, I had never thought that I would ever be easily turned on by the idea of having sex again. But ever since I had met those weirdos, I had been getting these incredibly intense sexual desires. Half of the time it felt like it wasn’t even my own feelings but someone else’s, which freaked me out even more. How would that even be possible?! 

On the positive side of things, I was getting along better with the team. Or at least enough that Fitz-Simmons had tried to prank me with stories of “The Cavalry” which I admit I had fallen for at first. That had then lead to a mini prank war between everyone onboard the plane, which I had happily partaken in myself.

I fell asleep that night with a smile on my face as I remembered the looks on Coulson and May’s faces when I managed to surprise them with my bout of mischief. 

********************************************

Author’s Note

Hey, know this one was a bit short but wanted to do a little avenger pov and im trying to focus only on the aos episodes that have the most to do with developing my character - also if anyone has any suggestions for “hero names” that i can call her for when she joins up with the avengers id love to hear them since I want to make sure I have it all set before I get to those parts. I want to find a way if possible to make ppl think that her and Angel are two different ppl so that when she breaks away they dont know its her and then when she next meets up with them she’d be keeping her avenger status a secret from coulson and everyone if that makes sense? lemme know if thats something that yall might like to see or if you think itd be a bit too much or something


	16. The Bridge

Skye's POV

I sat cross-legged on my bunk clicking keys on my laptop; staring intensely at the several profiles that flitted across my screen when I heard a knock on my door. It was Coulson.

"Mission briefing in five minutes," he informed me.

"Okay."

I made to close my laptop but not before Coulson had the chance to enter and get a look at the female agents of Shield profiles I had been sifting through.

"Kathrine Shane?" he read out.

"Do you know her?" I asked.

"We ran a few ops together in the 90s. Smart, resourceful. Had a soft spot for Truffaut movies."

"Easy there, charm school. According to these files Agent Shane could be my mom!" I said, teasing him. But he just sighed. 

"Even if Shane was the agent who dropped you off at the orphanage, it doesn't mean she's your mother," he reminded me.

"I started looking into all the female agents active when I was born. Needle, haystack, I know. But then I factored in age and marital status and then I built a program to narrow down the field," I informed him excitedly. 

"You're still looking at a long road."

"Well, it would be a lot shorter if I could access more files. Maybe you could remove my internet nanny?"

He just stared at me so I held up my wrist and shook my bracelet to emphasize my point.

"I'm talking about my tacking bracelet."

"I got that."

"So you'll take it off?" I inquired hopefully, though not expecting the answer to be anything but no. 

"No. But I asked May to look into Shield's more restricted files."

"I was kind of hoping to keep this private," I said slowly. I wasn't quite sure if I liked the idea of May poking around on my behalf. 

"Agent May specializes in private."

He nodded his head to me then turned to walk out of the room. "Let's go." I closed my laptop and made my way to the Command Center while Coulson went to go get Ward and May.

"At 0-800 hours three men infiltrated the Havenworth Federal Penitentiary," Coulson informed the team once everyone had gathered.

"Infiltrated? More like cannonballed!" I declared.

"They were in and out in less than 2 mintues. Left no prints at the scene, but we do have one lead." Coulson waved his hand over the halocom bringing up another picture onto the big wall mounted monitor. It was a close up of one of the Centipede Soldier's wrists showing the device.

"Centipede," Ward hissed.

Coulson waved his hand over the halocom a few more times showing different images, showing Chan and the lab in Hong Kong.

"It seems they salvaged some of their research from Hong Kong."

"So we were right. Chan's platelets solved their combustion problem. Now they can create super soldiers with no fear of explosion," Jemma said. I frowned as I noticed how excited she sounded about the fact that they had figured it out. Again, this was one of the many reasons I did not want Jemma Simmons finding out that I was a freaky powered person.

Fitz, seeing the expression on my face, leaned in closer to her.

"Maybe don't get so excited about it," he advised her.

"Two of Centipede's labs have been destroyed but they keep popping back up. Now they have at least three of these guys, maybe more," Coulson said.

"Who did they break out?" May asked.

"Edison Po, former Marine, expert in tactics and rapid response." Again, Coulson waved his hand over the halocom putting Po's information on the big monitor. "He fell off the grid in '08, reappeared 18 months ago at a diner in Boston."

"Where he stabbed a friend's eyes out," Ward said, squinting at the screen.

"With a steak knife, then finished his meal," Coulson commented.

"That's funny, Po doesn't look crazy," I observed.

They all turned their heads to stare at me, and I felt my eyes go big as I got defensive. 

"I'm kidding. The guy is a walking mug shot!"

"Which means he shouldn't be too hard to track down. Finding Po and these Centipede Soldiers is a top notch priority for Shield. We'll be running point, but we won't be working alone," said Coulson.

"What team did HQ send for backup?" asked Ward.

"Not a team, a person. Someone who can help us fight fire with fire."

"Somebody we worked with before?" I looked at Coulson, my curiosity getting the better of me.

"Not exactly."

********************************************

Coulson's POV

"This is a bad idea."

I shot a glance over to May as we stood on the balcony watching as an SUV drove up the cargo ramp.

"While I have you in a good mood you should know that Skye's trying to ID the agent that dropped her off at the orphanage. We agreed to protect her from the truth, so I told her you were looking into it," I informed her and ignoring the glare she sent my way.

"She may come to you."

May sighed and slightly closed her eyes, then focused on Mike again.

"One mistake at a time."

Skye's POV

I did my best to keep my mouth shut as Ward, Fitz-Simmons, and I rewatched the footage of Mike saving the female doctor way back when. I was just glad that they hadn't replayed any footage yet of me saving people. It wouldn't help matters if that footage was played right while I was standing next to them.

"It's not good, at all. The guy was a ticking time bomb, literally," Ward grumbled.

"HQ wouldn't have sent him if he was still combustible. They must've found a way to stabilize him somehow," Fitz argued back.

"They stabilize his attitude? Cause he was pretty hostile in Union Station," responded Ward.

"Well, it's not like we haven't opened up our doors to other people, people with questionable track records." I frowned slightly as I noticed Jemma's head nod in my direction while I stared at her with an open mouth.

"Not cool, but true. And don't worry about Mike, he's a good guy."

"Who's been in the Centipede program," Jemma stated.

"Exactly. He can give us some superpower backup," I declared.

"Yeah," Jemma nodded in agreement.

"Just saying, this could easily go sideways," Ward complained.

I shut my mouth and didn't respond as I noticed the man in question following Coulson behind Ward's back.

"I mean the last time we saw this guy, he was a raging homicidal maniac –" He dropped his words when he finally looked up at our faces as we watched Mike pull up to stand right behind Ward. "He's standing right behind me, isn't he?"

I nodded my head and made a face.

"Mr. Peterson, this is Agent Grant Ward," said Coulson in introduction.

I smirked as Ward turned and looked just a bit sheepish at being busted.

"He's the man who shot you at Union Station," Coulson added before pointing at Fitz-Simmons, who both offered a wave. "Fitz-Simmons, they designed the weapon he used, and I think you remember –"

"Kidnap victim," I said, raising my hand up in the air above my head while giving Mike a big warm smile. 

"You joined Shield?" He said, laughing at me a bit.

"Yeah. Turns out, guys in suits, not so bad," I told him, while silently praying that he didn't blow the lid off of my secret.

"Look, I know Union Station could have gone another way. Another team might not have let me out of there alive. I owe you, all of you," Mike said.

"That's bygones and water under a distant bridge far away," I rambled. "How's your son?"

"Still with my sister. He thinks I'm working construction, but he's good, happy."

Coulson walked over to the holocom.

"So what do we have?"

"Not much on Po. I checked his previously known addresses and old military contacts, came up empty," I said, irritatedly. It hurt my pride that I hadn't been able to find out much.

"We've been looking for where Po might be on the outside. Let's look at his life on the inside, at the prison. See if that gets us any leads."

I nodded as Coulson glanced over to Fitz-Simmons.

"Anything on the Centipede Soldiers?"

"We found a facial recog match on one of them," Jemma answered.

Ward hit a button on the holocom and brought up the information on the big monitor. 

"Name's Brian Hayward. Stationed in Afghanistan for three years, then fell off the radar when he got back."

"Only living relative – sister, Laura, sophomore at the University of Ohio," I added to Ward's description.

"She's our best shot at finding Hayward," Coulson stated. "Ward, you and I will go talk to her. Have May set a course for Cleveland."

********************************************

I was doing some work on my laptop when I heard someone coming. I quickly pulled out the flash drive that was plugged in.

"Hey," I greeted as I went to go stand in front of May.

"Coulson told me you were helping to, you know, find my long lost folks, so thanks. I'm glad you're in on this with me. It means a lot," I told her. Maybe this would allow us to finally connect a little better.

May said nothing though, just gave me one of her stares.

"Right, I can tell you're really into this. Um, I've done a lot of the heavy lifting already, came up with a short list. I thought you might –" I started to say.

"We're on a mission, Skye. Is this why you called me here?"

I held the flash drive out for her to take.

"No. I was just working on this while I waited for you. Uh, I called cause I found something about Po."

"Show me." 

We headed over to the Command Center where I then pulled up the security footage from the prison.

"Po only had one visitor during his prison stint, her. You notice the outfit? Miles said a girl in a flower dress asked him to hack Shield, this could be the same girl."

"Can we hear the conversation?" May asked, leaning in.

"That's the bummer, there's no audio. But it's not a total loss. I was able to use Shield's lip reading program, because we have one of those," I laughed, thinking about how cool that was and definitely something Hydra would never have thought necessary. May stayed stoic as always. "It didn't work on the girl because she never looks up at the camera, but Po did, once, and it caught this."

I hit a button and the feed zoomed into Po's mouth as what he was saying was being said by a robotic voice.

"The Clairvoyant does not like to be touched."

"I wrote that down, so we don't ever have to hear that again – ever," I commented.

"The Clairvoyant?"

"Yeah. Does that mean anything to you?" I looked at May curiously but she shook her head.

"But it means something to them. To Po and whoever that woman is."

"Her name's Raina."

We both looked up to see that Mike had entered the room and was now looking at the screen.

"You know her?" I looked at Mike in surprise.

"Yeah, she recruited me for Centipede. Came up to me in the hospital where I did my back therapy, out of the blue. Told me she could change my life."

I quickly got a hold of Coulson on the phone and sent him a picture of Raina.

"We're running her through our systems. Maybe we can get an ID but we're guessing she's Centipede's recruiter and Po was her latest recruit," I informed him.

"Three super soldiers dive bomb a prison, pluck him out? He's her number one draft pick," Coulson replied.

"But why him?" I asked.

"Centipede's making more soldiers," Coulson stated. "Maybe they want Po to coordinate them, lead them."

"His background's tactical strategy, he fits the bill," chimed in May.

"So, these guys have super soldiers, an expert military strategist and a clairvoyant who can see the future. Anyone else thinking about switching teams?" I joked halfheartedly. I did not mean it, I just wanted to lighten up the tension.

"They couldn't have a psychic," Coulson argued. "There are none on The Index, they're a myth."

"So was Thor," I pointed out. After everything I'd heard about him, I really wanted to meet him at some point.

"Maybe it's an alias," Coulson suggested. "Run it through our database and see if anything pops up. Ward is approaching Hayward's sister now."

********************************************

Coulson and Ward’s little ruse apparently worked and Laura ended up leading us to her brother, who happened to be in Oakland, California.

While we were all passing the time as the plane started to head to California, I decided to check up on Mike.

“Come in!” he shouted when I knocked on the door to the holding cell he was currently occupying.

I looked around in surprise. There was a cot set up on one side with a plaid comforter on top of it.

“Oh, it almost looks homey,” I commented with a laugh. However, in the back of my mind, I couldn’t help but remember how all the nights I had spent in various cells over the years.

I went to close the door, noticing Mike picking up his wallet from the bed and going to put a picture back inside.

“Is that Ace?”

I walked to the bed and he held the picture out to me. I took it and sat down beside him.

“What a cutie!” I exclaimed. “He must be so proud of you, his dad working for Shield. Which he can’t know with everything being classified,” I suddenly remembered. Well there goes that. Way to put my foot in my mouth...

Mike reached for the photo and I gave it back.

“That’s all right, he knows I’m working,” he said as he looked at the photo. “Called him on his birthday and gave him all the “Heroes of New York” action figures, made sure to include the Hulk like you requested.”

“Nice,” I said with a laugh. “Are you two close?” As I watched him staring down at the photo of his son, I couldn’t help but feel nostalgic. Did I have parents out there that missed me as much as Mike missed his son? Were they even alive? And if so, would they even be happy if/when I eventually tracked them down?

“We’re a team. I’d do anything for this little guy.”

“That’s got to be the best feeling. Son looking up to you, who wants to grow up to be just like you.”

Mike looked away from me and I looked down at the bed, trying not to get overly emotional.

“Yeah. Looks like he’s growing fast, though.”

I studied his face for a moment then the door opened. Mike looked over and quickly scrambled to stand when Coulson entered the room holding something. I decided to remain seated.

“You said you wanted your shot,” Coulson said, holding the bundle out to him - it looked like dark black clothing. “Here it is.”

Mike quickly stepped forward and took the bundle out of Coulson’s hands.

“I won’t let you down.”

Coulson gave him a tiny smile and nodded his head, before walking out. I stood up and clapped Mike on the back with a smile before walking out as well.

********************************************

“Hayward’s cellphone has been traced to an abandoned factory about eight miles from here,” Coulson updated Fitz-Simmons and Mike as May and I followed him down the spiral staircase to join them.

Coulson hit a button on his tablet and brought up a overhead view of the factory.

“Probably Centipede’s new lab,” said Ward.

”Certainly been their MO, we destroy one factory they set up another putting us back to square one. This time, I want answers,” Coulson said.

“Means we go in quiet, do minimal damage to the facility and the people inside,” May declared.

“Ward, May, you’ll go in through the west entrance. Mr. Peterson and I will enter through the loading dock. Simmons, you’ll run the back in from the outside.” I opened my mouth to argue that I should be at the forefront of the action and then remembered that I had the secret of my powers to protect. At this point, it was also about avoiding having to explain all about Hydra and my training as well. My coping mechanism so far had been to simply ignore thinking about it and doing my best to pretend that it had never happened. It was hard, but I’d been spending the last few months tossing all that baggage into boxes and tossing them into the mental closet of my mind. Not that it worked half the time...

“We’re doing this just us? We’ve been playing whack-a-mole with these guys since Ward first plucked me out of my van. Shouldn’t big Shield be sending in backup?” I questioned instead.

”Trust me, they already did,” Coulson stated, glancing to Mike and giving him a nod of his head.

********************************************

“We alone here?” Coulson asked through his comm as he and Mike approached the abandoned factory.

“It appears so. The only heat signatures we’re reading are yours,” Jemma replied. We were parked a ways away in our surveillance van. 

“But there’s a weird electronic signal. I’m trying to isolate it,” I tacked on.

“Think we’re too late?” Ward asked.

”Fitz, dial Hayward’s number,” demanded Coulson.

A few moments after Fitz had dialed, my super-hearing managed to catch the sound of a cellphone ringing nearby the factory. And then a huge explosion rocked my ears as the doors of one of the shipping crates was blown off by a Centipede soldier.

“Uh, sir, you’ve got company,” Fitz informed Coulson. I rolled my eyes. I’m sure he’s figured that out, Fitz!

”Yeah, we do,” Coulson confirmed.

I tensed up as I heard the faint sound of another crate being busted open. I clenched my fists as I resented the fact that I wasn’t there right now to help; stuck in the van with Fitz-Simmons instead, forced to watch as the monitors on Mike’s suite go crazy.

“What’s happening?” I cried out.

“His systolic and diastolic pressures are dropping!” Jemma exclaimed.

“Heart rate’s plummeting, as well,” Fitz added.

”Sir, he’s in bad shape. Between the physical exertion and this wound his vitals are dangerously low,” Jemma informed Coulson. I clenched my hands even tighter, my nails drawing blood from the palms of my hands, but I barely noticed or cared since I knew the wounds would heal over soon enough.

“Who’s behind Centipede? Who’s doing this?” I heard Coulson demand of Howard.

“I won’t say anything. I promise.” Even from my spot in the van I got the sense that Howard wasn’t speaking to Coulson. “No! Please! Don’t do th –”

There was a sound of a blown circuit and I flinched as my nails dug even deeper into my palms.

********************************************

“On the left is Akela Amador’s. Hayward’s is on the right.” Fitz clarified as we all looked at the x-rays displayed on the screens in their lab as Simmons was tending to Mike. “Now, his prosthetic was slightly damaged, but based on digital reconstruction I can confirm that the technology is virtually identical.”

“Hayward’s prosthetic has the same internal power source, backscatter capabilities and biometrics as Amador,” I chimed in.

”So Centipede also developed the eye implant?” Coulson asked.

“These guys are serious multitaskers,” I commented.

Mike looked at us in confusion. “Who’s Akela Amador?”

“Former Shield agent, the first person we encountered with this eye technology. A good agent who was forced to do some bad things,” explained Coulson.

”We helped her,” Jemma declared with pride.

Mike laughed. “Kind of a pattern with you guys.” He shifted on the table, groaning as he did so. “So then theses soldiers at the warehouse were forced to attack us through that eye thing?”

“They were getting orders. When the tide turned in our favor Centipede flipped Hayward’s kill switch, told the other guys to run,” Coulson said before turning to look at me. “Can you track the eye feed like before, find their location? “

“Nope. They’ve updated since Amador. Their feed’s untraceable now,” I grumbled irritably. 

”Their technology keeps advancing at a disturbingly rapid pace. They must have endless manpower, resources,” Coulson pointed out.

“And someone with a fat wallet,” I added.

”Po’s the strategist. Raina’s the recruiter. Perhaps this Clairvoyant’s the money,” suggested Jemma.

“That makes sense. If I could see the future, I’d go straight to Las Vegas,” Fitz said with a smile.

Mike and I grinned at him while Simmons just rolled her eyes.

“Whoever’s behind them may or may not be psychic, but they’re one step ahead of us every time. I need to update HQ. This is bigger than we thought,” Coulson said, walking out of the room, leaving the rest of us to exchange worried looks.

On my way up to my room, I passed by the minibar in time to catch May arguing with Ward. I paused with my foot on the too stair not wanting to interrupt. Apparently she was angry with Ward for taking a punch for her earlier.

“I am not some recruit who can’t separate church from state. I’m on the same page as you. So don’t flatter yourself,” I heard Ward say coldly before he stalked off past me with a bump to the shoulder.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to crash...” I said slowly as May looked to where Ward disappeared and noticed me.

“What do you want? This about that thumb drive again?” Ouch, I get that your upset with Ward right now but no need to take it out on me, woman! I gritted my teeth and forced myself to calm down.

“No.”

“Good.”

“Look, I get that you don’t want to help with that loud and clear, big neon flashing lights. But I didn’t ask, okay. Coulson –” I didn’t get to finish though.

“Coulson doesn’t want to tell you the truth. The truth is…” I opened my eyes wide, waiting with baited breath for whatever she was about to say for a long moment. She seemed on the verge of saying something, but then her expression changed. “You have to decide why you’re here. We have a mission and it’s not to find your parents. If you can’t put aside your personal attachments, then you shouldn’t be here,” she said instead.

Her speech felt like she was berating herself and taking it all out on me. My face blanked as I did my best to not look like May had just sucker punched me, but I don’t think I did a good job of masking my hurt shock. May walked off leaving me behind.

I spun around and tore off to my room and dumped out the box of paperwork I had been keeping with all the documents of my research. Tears spilled down my cheeks as I gathered them up and angrily ripped them all in half and shoved them in the wastebasket. 

I swiped at my tears, half angry, half in shock to find myself crying. I couldn’t remember the last time I had ever cried. I don’t recall crying as a child, and if I had, I’m sure Hydra had stamped that out quickly. As far as I can remember though, I had considered it a point of pride and one of the few ways that I could rebel against their control over me - not crying for them when I knew how much it turned on the sadistic pricks.

I did my best to hold back the sobs that threatened to burst forth, not noticing the sound of footsteps outside my door or Coulson’s indecisive figure hovering close by, debating whether or not to knock on my door.

********************************************

“They want to trade. Ace for his father. They’ve set a time and place,” Coulson informed us a few hours later. Mike had called his son, only to discover the Raina was with him.

”Bloody savages,” Fitz said, his accent stronger than normal.

“They want to experiment on him, determine how he still has his abilities,” Jemma said. I flinched as she mentioned experimentation; noticing out of the corner of my eye that Coulson had seen me. I doubted that I would ever grow to like that word.

”And we’re gonna let them? We’ve fought these guys before,” Ward said.

”We don’t have a choice. The instructions they gave Mr. Peterson were very specific. I called HQ, told them to stand down,” said Coulson firmly.

May crossed her arms. “Stand down?” 

“So we take them alone,” said Ward.

“We should at least have a hostage rescue unit in support of this,” May interjected.

“They said they would murder my son,” Mike spoke up.

Everyone quieted as we looked at him.

“If we make one wrong move.”

“Any electronics, any comms, any sign of surveillance and they’ll terminate the arrangement,” Coulson relayed, with a gleam of determination in his eyes.

“I’ll give myself up, no problem, get him back. I can figure it out from there,” said Mike defiantly.

“You’re still recovering. We can’t just hand you over to them like that, can we?” I exclaimed. 

“Fitz-Simmons have a non-electronic method of tracking him,” replied Coulson.

“Simmons has fabricated an odorless scent. I have an instrument which can detect it. Works like a bloodhound, can track someone from over 50 kilometers,” said Fitz.

“After we make the trade we’ll be able to follow Mr. Peterson. Buy him some time to get his strength back. We’ll find him,” said Coulson.

“I don’t care what happens to me. As long as my boy is…” Mike started to say.

“I promise you, we’re gonna get your son back,” Coulson declared. I nodded in agreement.

********************************************

“Once the swap happens, I’ll fire up my equipment. We’ll be able to track you wherever they take you,” Fitz explained to Mike as I watched Jemma spray his hand with the odorless tracking stuff. 

“Just don’t do anything that’ll endanger my son,” Mike stated.

”We won’t, but we want to make sure Ace has his dad at the end of the day, too,” I replied gently.

Coulson walked around the van and into view. “Time to go.”

I found myself once again digging my nails info the palm of my hands as I watched Mike and Coulson approach the middle of the Bridge where Raina was located.

My ears twitched as I heard Ward curse from his perch on one of the nearby roofs. Damn, his view must be blocked! My nails dug deeper into my flesh as I bit my lip with worry.

I growled under my breath as the two men disappeared from view for too long. I breathed a sigh of relied though when I saw Mike’s son run into my view to be picked up by his father.

“There’s his son!” I declared with relief.

“Oh, thank God. I have no stomach for this,” said Simmons.

“On my mark activate comms and tracker,” May’s voice instructed through the comms.

We watched as Mike held Ace close and walked past Coulson with him in his arms. I noticed him turn back and say something to Coulson but even my ears could hear what he said.

My eyes widened in shock and fear as I watched Coulson get stabbed in the back with some sort of drug, Mike running at us holding Ace and then Coulson being dragged away. 

“What happened? They took Coulson. All right, call it in, we need backup!” Ward cried out. “I have a shot,” he added as I ran forward to meet Mike and Ace.

“Do not engage. They’ll kill Coulson. Stand down I’ll contact HQ,” May instructed.

As Mike checked that his son was okay, May contacted HQ. 

“Shield HQ this is Shield RG422 we need immediate satellite support!”

Mike finally got close to me and handed Ace over to me; kneeling down to look into the boys eyes. What the hell is going on?! I was barely comprehending the fact that Coulson had been exchanged and not Mike.

“Ace, I’ve got to make something right. Daddy loves you so much, okay? Stay with Skye. You remember Skye, right? Keep him safe. Take care of my boy!” I looked into his pain filled eyes and nodded franticly as I tried to hide my emotions and smile down to Ace. I lifted him up into my arms as I watched Mike run back down the bridge toward the car Coulson was dragged to. 

When he passed by the cement mixers both of them exploded on either side of him though. I flinched in horror and hugged Ace tight to me; making sure that his face was turned away. 

“No!!! Mike!!!” I shouted. 

Everyone looked at the bridge shell shocked.

“Where’s Coulson?” Ward said in panic.

I looked over to the car Raina drove in and it exploded as well.

“Oh, my God,” I said, still holding tight to Ace. “Coulson.”

The bridge was left in utter devastation. We heard helicopter blades whirring and one suddenly appeared next to the bridge. May and I watched as it flew away. I saw Ward focusing on the chopper only to suddenly get shot at; causing him to duck for cover. I winced as he doesn’t duck quick enough, he’s hit – it looked like maybe in his shoulder – and he went down. Everyone watched shocked as the helicopter managed to get away.

********************************************

Author’s Note

\- so here’s another thought that just came to me as I was writing this chapter. Instead of making it so that Skye finds Mt. Olympus during the whole centipede serum thing, I could still keep the garrett/tahiti storyline in, but just make the whole transformation something that happens after the battle of new york so that the avengers cld be involved in it, or it cld happen like i originally planned where shes her new and improved self before fury finally recruits her and maybe shes so transformed that they dont recognize her at first? think that cld actually be cool to write - wld still need a new hero name for her but i do like the idea of her finding out their her soulmates at the end of the whole garrett/tahiti stuff but being to scared to face it and still not in full control of her powers so hiding the fact that shes skye and then when she finds out loki and thor/hulk etc are also soulmates itd add a whole other element to, anyways just let me know your thought, if you havent realized yet, I kind of use this section to just free flow write out my thoughts more so for myself since half the time i come to a conclusion after writing it out but I figure why not let yall see my thought process as I write/edit my stories lol


	17. The Magical Place (Part 1)

Skye's POV

"Fitz-Simmons, he's heading your way," we heard May shout over our comms. We were currently in the middle of a crazy scheme to capture Vanchat, one of our only leads to finding Coulson.

I laughed as Jemma glanced over at Fitz. "We've never done anything like this before. Are you sure?"

"It's time, Simmons. Embrace the change," he said in that adorable accent of his. I giggled as I watched him activate their drones and send them off to block Vanchat's escape. The camera view from the drones; while still funny, was not as satisfying as being there to see to see Vanchat's look of surprise in person. 

"Skye, you're up," I head Ward say. Meaning that Vanchat must have entered the lift.

I smirked as I started typing rapidly across my keyboard; watching as the man struggled to get any of the elevator buttons to work.

"Here. Let me get that for you," I offered with a laugh. I pressed one final button and the elevator began to shoot upwards. Vanchat moved himself to the back of the elevator and pulled up his gun preparing to fire which I found hilarious for some reason. I watched eagerly as he was deposited onto the roof; only to be met by two helicopters and a dozen Shield agents all pointing their guns at him. 

I punched my arm up in victory as we watched from our van as May came up behind him and took the gun out of his hand. Once he was disarmed, Victoria Hand appeared from behind the agents.

"Mr. Vanchat. We were hoping you could help us find a friend," she said.

********************************************

I glared at my laptop screen as I typed furiously away on the keyboard. I was not liking Victoria Hand being in charge. I missed Coulson. It wasn't until he was gone that I had finally come to realize just how much I truly cared for everyone on this team. Part of me still didn't want to care so much, knowing that it would hurt that much more if Hydra ever got a hold of them or me. The other half of me was just happy that things had been going relatively well for me considering how new I still was to being in control of my own life for once.

Suddenly an alarm went off. I cursed silently as I realized I had tripped an alarm.

Not a minute later, my bedroom door was being slid open by May.

"Just in time. Can you override this?" I said, casually holding up the bracelet that was still around my wrist.

"What do you think you're doing?" Hand asked, disapprovingly. 

"The money trail's our key to finding Coulson. I just need to gain access to Vanchat's financials and from there I should be able to trace Centipede's payments and then hack into their account," I explained.

"You're the consultant, the one who shot Agent Sitwell," Hand commented.

"Technically, that wasn't me..." I pointed out. Simmons had been the one to do that.

"I want you off this plane immediately."

I stared at the lady with the pink stripes in her hair in confusion as she turned and quickly walked way leaving me alone with Ward and May.

"What?" Ward looked just as confused as I did

"Wait!" I cried out hurrying out if my bunk and passing my two teammates to reach Hand. "I know I'm not some badass field agent like May or Ward but this is what I do. You can't just kick me off this mission!" I exclaimed, not daring to reveal the fact that I could easily become a badass agent if I revealed myself.

Hand stopped and turned to look down her nose at me.

"Look, I will do whatever you say. All this protocol crap doesn't matter to me. All that matter to me is Coulson!" I declared frustratedly. This woman was getting on my last nerves.

"Well, "all this protocol crap" matters to me. You're a distraction and you're gone." I blinked at her as she turned her back on me again. I opened my mouth to speak again but Ward beat me to it.

"Agent Hand, I know Skye's methods are unorthodox but she's a member of this time. She can help!" I glanced at him appreciatively. I think that's the nicest thing I've ever heard him say about me. Awww.

"Agent May, your professional opinion, will this girl be of any use to us on this plane?" I waited anxiously for her answer, though I had a sneaking suspicion I knew what it would be.

"No." And this is why I try not to get attached to anybody. 

I looked at her feeling betrayed.

"Increase her restriction level. Confiscate her laptop and phone then have her delivered to debrief," Hand stated. 

"I'll do it, I'm her S.O," Ward promptly replied. I frowned at him. For someone who had just been praising me, he seemed quite eager to get rid of me! 

Hand nodded then turned away. Ward looked down at me and started away in the opposite direction. I took a moment to just stare in shock at May, who just gave me the typical stoic May expression. Seriously she should get that look copyrighted at this point...

I spun around and walked off in a huff.

"It's clear May has an axe to grind with me, but that was way out of line!" I vented to Ward as we headed down to the cargo area.

"No one knows what's in May's head except May. Don't worry. Coulson will make this right when he gets back," Ward replied, a unreadable expression on his face as he stared down at me.

"I can find him, Ward!" I said firmly.

"I believe you. I've seen firsthand what you can do, even without Shield resources," he said with a soft smile.

"Hang on, hang on." We glanced up to see Fitz-Simmons heading our way.

Jemma walked up to me and held up a brown paper bag. "We made something for you."

"You made me a sandwich?" I asked, confused.

"Yes, it is that." I raised my brows at the stiff way she was stressing her words, she was obviously lying.

"It's a satellite phone, damper resistant. You get one shot before the bracelet shuts it down," Fitz whispered.

"So only call in case of emergency," Simmons added.

"What do I even need this for? I'm going to be spending the next three days in a Shield broom closet getting debriefed!" I threw my hands up in exasperation. 

"That's right. A few agents are coming here to pick you up for debriefing..." Ward started to confirm; pausing until one of the new people on the plane passed by then lowering his voice. "In exactly 12 minutes."

Realization dawned on me.

"Good luck."

They all walked away from me at once. I turned and started down the cargo bay ramp. As I did so, I passed by a worker looking longingly at Lola.

"Don't touch Lola!" I reprimanded. Coulson wasn't hear to say it so someone had to! 

He quickly pulled his hand back looking guilty.

The minute his back was turned, I used my superhuman speed to get the hell out of there and find somewhere I could lay low.

I eventually settled for a local internet café where I sat in the very back, typing away on my laptop. I was so focused that despite all of iHydra's training and the paranoia that had been instilled within me, I barely notice the chimes on the door signaling the arrival of new customers. I had more important things to dworry about. 

"Just need an exploit, some way in!" I said to myself. I hit enter and there was a beep then ethe Shield logo appeared on the screen. The rccomputer beeped more and the words LOCKDOWN appear under the Shield logo. 

I looked around the café to see that all of the computers had gown down with the logo and the LOCKOUT message. People in the café began grumbling about the disruption. 

"You have got to be kidding me! I don't have time for this!" I hissed angrily as I stood up and made to exit the booth. My butt landed back on the cushion as I found myself colliding hard with someone's incredibly muscular chest.

"Um, sorry! I'm such a klutz sometimes!" I hastily said as I scrambled to grab my bag once more and leave. It was only then that I bothered to look up. I froze. Not again!

"No! What the hell are you guys doing here!" I cried out. I glared angrily as the red head and her two blond haired companions sat down at the table, the one with the insanely blue eyes sitting to my right. I slid over towards the window as I felt his leg brush up against mine and had to bite my lip to resist the urge to moan. What the hell was wrong with me! I scratched my body irritably as a few of my scars started to heat up.

"Now, is that anyway to talk to your, shall we say, friends?" Though Clint's tone was light and playful, I could sense the uncertain question hidden beneath the surface. 

I stared him down, hoping to intimidate him, but he just responded with a sly smirk that made me want to slap him; and at the same time had a certain heat rising throughout my body. 

"I wouldn't say that..."

"Ouch!" He cried out dramatically clutching his heart as if I'd caused him serious physical harm. I rolled my eyes at his childish antics. 

"Look, I'm sorry, you all seem like very nice people but other than the occasional run-ins we seem to be having lately, we barely know each other so yes, I'd say that we aren't really more than acquaintances but what the hell do I know about relationships! Geesh. Look no offense but I really can't deal with this right now, a friend of mine is in some serious trouble and I need to be helping him." I frowned as I suddenly felt a wave of jealousy wash over me. That was strange, where the hell had that come from?

"So who is this friend? Is there anything we can do to help?" Natasha asked slowly. I opened my mouth to say no, instantly remembering May's warning that under no circumstance was I to let these people know that Coulson was alive, but I paused as a sudden idea came to me.

"N-actually yes, can I borrow one of your phones?!" I said. 

I looked over at Steve with a wide-eyed innocent look (or what I hoped was; for all I know I looked like a nut-job), and it seemed to do the trick. He sighed but slowly reached into his pocket and handed me his phone. 

I popped up the search browser and typed in my search inquiry once more and hit enter only to once again be faced with the Shield logo and the LOCKDOWN message. 

"Damnit! I really thought that might work, it being your phone and all! Natasha, Clint, lemme see your phones as well!" I demanded, leaning over the tabletop and sticking my hand out for their phones. I was getting increasingly agitated. Every second that passed was more time that Coulson spent who knows where, with who knows who, doing who knows what! I couldn't bear the thought of him being locked up and tortured like I had been. 

The two hesitated before handing over their phones as well. Not that it made any difference. I threw all three of them at the wall in anger. I really thought that maybe if I used a high level agent's phone it might work, but I was still being booted out of the system.

"Woah, there, sugar. Why don't you take a deep breath and calm down. Tell us what's going on! I'm sure we can help," Clint said, not even flinching when the phones shattered into pieces. None of them had, in fact. I frowned. I had been expecting them them to be more upset with me. Hydra would certainly not have tolerated such behavior. I flinched as Natasha shifted in her seat and hung my head, missing the dark looks that passed over my companion's faces.

"I'm so sorry! I don't know why I threw your phones! I should not have done that! Stupid, stupid, stupid! I appreciate the offer, but there really isn't anything you can do to help me. Again, I'm really sorry for bumping into you, then taking your phones, only to break them and dash off, but I promise I'll make it up to you somehow!" I said, standing up once more and motioning for Steve to let me past. 

America's national sweetheart didn't even bother to stand. How rude. Instead, he grabbed a gentle hold on my wrist and tugged. I had the strength to have resisted if I wanted, but something about the way his skin was touching mine was making my mind all fuzzy and I found myself sinking back down into the booth. 

"Now, hang on there, darlin', why don't you slow down and give us a chance to assess the situation for ourselves? And you are not stupid! Everyone get's upset! Myself included. I don't even know how to really use my phone and it's nothing that can't easily be replaced." Steve said. Damn. To be honest, I barely heard a word he had said after darlin'. The way he'd said that, and the look on his face, damn! I would have been in serious danger if I hadn't already been sitting down. I tried to focus on the conversation and not the tingling in my legs. 

"Hmmm?" I half asked, half moaned as he tucked a stray curl behind my ear. I bit my lip, trying to get my mind to focus. Why in the world does that feel so good? The heat burning my body suddenly seemed to intensify by triple and I fanned myself with a leftover menu as I leaned as far away from Steve as I could. 

"I'm sorry, it's really hot in here, next time you see the waiter you should have them check the air conditioning but like I said, I really need to get going..." I made to stand up again but blinked in surprise as Clint suddenly vaulted across the table to sit on my left side, so that now I was squeezed in between him and Steve. I shifted, uncomfortable with the way my body was reacting to their close proximity. I bit my lip again as I felt both of their arms brush against the bare skin of my own. 

"What the hell is it with these people! It's not like I get this way with anyone else!" I mumbled under my breath, not thinking any of them would be able to hear me. 

"Um, w-what are you doing?" I stammered, looking at Clint nervously. 

"Just getting more comfortable, sweetie. If you're in a hurry to get somewhere though, we'd be more than happy to give you a ride," something about the grin on his face sent my brain tumbling down into the imagination gutter as I suddenly pictured the four of us in a car together. Only problem was, there wasn't much driving being done in my mental image. I blushed and quickly turned away from Clint's smug face, only to catch Natasha winking at me. I blushed again and looked down, not daring to look at Steve at this point.

"I-I um, like I said, I appreciate your kind offers, um, really, I do, but I-I, I'm sorry it's way too hot in here for me to think properly and I can't waste anymore time, I'll send you your replacement phones as soon as I get the chance!" With that said, I swung my bag across my back and darted out of the booth using my super speed to disappear in the blink of an eye. 

I grabbed a water bottle from my bag the second I was far enough away and poured the entire contents all over me, hoping it would help cool the heat inside my body but I should have guessed. With my luck, the heat emanating from my skin evaporated the water in two seconds flat; so there went that idea.

I hastily walked over to a magazine rack on the sidewalk and pulled my mind back into focus as I flipped through one of the magazines until I landed on the article I wanted.

"Hey, Lloyd. You might be my way in," I said with a grin. 

3rd Person POV

Steve, Clint, and Natasha had not been expecting to run into their soulmate when they had walked into the café. But no sooner had the door closed behind them than their bonds had signaled to them that their soulmate was near. They all glanced around, finally spotting her in the far corner booth, angrily cursing at her laptop. 

As the approached, they managed to catch a few words. 

"Just need an exploit, some way in!" she was saying. The three of them glanced at each other, wondering what was up. 

"You have got to be kidding me! I don't have time for this!" The next thing Steve knew, Skye was colliding with his chest. He blinked in surprise as she fell back onto her seat.

"Um, sorry! I'm such a klutz sometimes!" Steve stared down at his soulmate, opening his mouth but finding himself tongue tied. "No! What the hell are you guys doing here!" Skye said once she realized who she had bumped into. Steve frowned while Natasha and Clint smirked.

"Now, is that anyway to talk to your, shall we say, friends?" Clint asked her, his eyes sparkling with mirth, though also asking a genuine question, one that they had all been wondering for the past few months. They had each come to the conclusion that it might be simpler to approach their soulmate as friends first before trying to overwhelm her with the whole soulmate bonding stuff. It was killing them trying to keep their distance, but they didn't want her to keep running away from them.

"I wouldn't say that..."

"Ouch!" Clint cried out dramatically clutching his heart as if she'd caused him serious physical harm. He smiled as she rolled her gorgeous eyes at his childish antics. 

"Look, I'm sorry, you all seem like very nice people but other than the occasional run-ins we seem to be having lately, we barely know each other so yes, I'd say that we aren't really more than acquaintances but what the hell do I know about relationships! Geesh. Look no offense but I really can't deal with this right now, a friend of mine is in some serious trouble and I need to be helping him." At her words, Steve, Natasha, and Clint all shifted in their seat as they tried to ignore the intense feelings of jealousy that suddenly filled their hearts.

"So who is this friend? Is there anything we can do to help?" Natasha finally asked. They stared at Skye in anticipation; while also taking the time to burn as many details about her into their memories - knowing that she was likely to disappear on them again. They all fought to bite back groans each time their precious little soulmate bit her luscious lips. And watching her blush! It was just adorable! 

"N-actually yes, can I borrow one of your phones?!" she said. 

Steve felt his heart practically melt from the wide-eye look of pure innocence that she gave him and though he tried to resist, he eventually sighed and slowly reached into his pocket and handed her his phone. 

The three of them watched in confusion as their soulmate typed something into Steve's phone only for the Shield logo to suddenly pop up on the screen and LOCKDOWN appeared in bold letters.

"Damnit! I really thought that might work, it being your phone and all! Natasha, Clint, lemme see your phones as well!" Natasha and Clint's eyes widened as she leaned over the tabletop towards them. Clint was suddenly finding his pants a little too tight as he couldn't help but notice the tiny glimpse he had down her shirt. It wasn't much compared to what the girl's outside of Stark Tower usually presented. But somehow, that made it even hotter. 

He shifted in his seat as he and Natasha handed Skye their phones. 

It didn't seem to make any difference. The Shield logo still popped up on both of their phones and their soulmate got so irritated that she threw all three of them at the wall in anger.

"Woah, there, sugar. Why don't you take a deep breath and calm down. Tell us what's going on! I'm sure we can help," Clint said, not even flinching when the phones shattered into pieces.

When Natasha shifted in her seat, they all noticed Skye flinch and hang her head as if she was expecting them to strike her. All three shared a dark look as they recognized Skye's reaction for what it was and quickly guessed that Hydra's was the cause.

"I'm so sorry! I don't know why I threw your phones! I should not have done that! Stupid, stupid, stupid! I appreciate the offer, but there really isn't anything you can do to help me. Again, I'm really sorry for bumping into you, then taking your phones, only to break them and dash off, but I promise I'll make it up to you somehow!" She said, standing up once more and motioning for Steve to let her past. 

The blue-eyed blond didn't even bother to stand. Instead, he grabbed her wrist lightly and tugged until she was sitting back down again. 

"Now, hang on there, darlin', why don't you slow down and give us a chance to assess the situation for ourselves? And you are not stupid! Everyone get's upset! Myself included. I don't even know how to really use my phone and it's nothing that can't easily be replaced." Steve said. He didn't want to let her go so soon. He just wished she would slow down enough to let them have an actual conversation.

"Hmmm?" All three shifted in their seats as their soulmate half asked half moaned as Steve tucked a stray strand of her hair behind her ear. They were suddenly feeling very hot inside. What was this woman doing to them!

"I'm sorry, it's really hot in here, next time you see the waiter you should have them check the air conditioning but like I said, I really need to get going..." Clint suddenly vaulted across the table to sit on Skye's left side. As he did so, his and Steve's arms brushed against the skin of her own and Clint clenched his teeth as he felt her shudder slightly. Damn. He wanted to take her right here and now on the tabletop.

"What the hell is it with these people! It's not like I get this way with anyone else!" They heard her mumble under her breath, not thinking any of them would be able to hear.

"Um, w-what are you doing?" she stammered, looking at Clint nervously. 

"Just getting more comfortable, sweetie. If you're in a hurry to get somewhere though, we'd be more than happy to give you a ride."

All three soulmates squeezed their hands into fists as they felt waves of sexual energy roll off of Skye at Clint's suggestion. Man, she's adorable when she blushes! Steve thought. 

Nat winked at the girl as she turned quickly away from Clint, grinning as she watched Skye's cheeks redden even more.

"I-I um, like I said, I appreciate your kind offers, um, really, I do, but I-I, I'm sorry it's way too hot in here for me to think properly and I can't waste anymore time, I'll send you your replacement phones as soon as I get the chance!" With that said, she swung her bag across her back and darted out of the booth using her super speed to disappear in the blink of an eye before any of them could make a move to stop her.

"Damnit!" Steve cried out, slamming his fist against the table, his super strength creating a fist sized dent in the linoleum. 

"Are you even allowed to curse?" Natasha asked, half joking.

"I am when my soulmate runs away for the third time!" 

********************************************

Author's Note

Let me know what y'all thought of this latest chapter! Added some Clint, Natasha, and Steve in there since it fit into the story since its one of the few times she's away from Coulson/the team plus I just really wanna build up their frustration for as long as possible when it comes to skye continually running in and out on them lol


	18. The Magical Place (Part 2)

Skye's POV

I glanced up, then looked down, then glanced back up and grinned as I caught sight of a nice leather jacket that reminded me of something May might wear. I walked up to the window looking in at it and I could see my reflected grin off the glass.

I went in, bought the jacket and some pants to match before spying my target.

“That's what I said. Yeah,” Rathman was saying as he handed his keys to a valet. “Of course, I love truffles. But not on that. What an idiot.”

He walked past a pillar to the building he was entering and I appeared from the opposite side; now wearing the new leather jacket and putting a cellphone to my ear.

“No, sweetie, listen to me. It was a private jet. Of course there was wi-fi. He should've at least texted you back,” I fake spoke while I walked around the front of Rathman's SUV to the driver door. I opened the door, sat in the driver's seat and tossed my bag and the cellphone onto the passenger's seat and drove away. Damn, driving is funnn! This was technically my first real time driving without Hydra over my shoulder.

I reached over hitting buttons on the SUV's GPS. After hitting a few buttons once again the Shield logo appeared.

“Damn it!” I cursed as I pounded the steering wheel and pulled over to the side of the road, stopped and parked the car.

“Okay, Skye, just need a Plan "B",” I told myself.

I sighed deeply and scrunched up my face trying to think. I looked over to the right and saw buttons for Onstar and SDS. I quickly put the car into drive and slammed on the gas pedal. I came upon a red light and cut the wheel sending the car crashing into some water barrels. I panted from the impact as there was a beep from the car and a woman's voice.

“Roadside assistance. We see you've had an accident.”

“Yeah. Can you send somebody to tow me back to my house?” I asked.

“Of course. I'll dispatch someone right away. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I'm good.” I waited for the tow truck to arrive and sighed an hour later as we pulled up into Rathman’s driveway.

“So, you sure you don't want me to take it to the dealer?” the truck driver asked me as I signed the paperwork.

“No thanks. I got a guy,” I told him.

“All right. Thank you.”

I walked over and picked up my shopping bag then reached into the SUV and pulled out the garage door opener. I opened the garage to find a black Lamborghini with the license plates of $BLSYAL.

“Dollar bills, y'all,” I said with a roll of my eyes.

I walked by the car and entered the house. The first thing in the house, rolling my eyes at a portrait of him done in Warhol style, four blocks all different colors with the portraits done in different colors as well. Conceited much?

I walked past the picture and set my stuff down at a desk with a computer. I looked down at my bracelet then over to a golf bag. I took out one of the irons and used the handle of it to hit dial on the telephone, which began to ring.

“Lloyd Rathman's office,” a woman said.

“This is the L.A.P.D. I need to speak with Mr. Rathman. We've recovered a stolen vehicle registered in his name,” I said in an authoritative voice as I flipped through Rathman's paper files.

“Oh. Was it damaged?”

“Yes, ma'am. We have two officers waiting at his home, ready to take a statement,” I told her.

I picked up a photo from the desk showing Rathman, in a full suit, next to a young boy in a soccer uniform.

“How long do you think it'll take Mr. Rathman to get there?”

30 minutes later I heard the sound of Rathman walking to his front door. He entered and set his stuff down as I walked into the hallway.

“You're in a lot of trouble, Mr. Rathman,” I told him ominously. I was enjoying pretending to be May/the Cavalry. 

“Who the hell are you?”

“Agent Melinda May with Shield,” I said cooly. First I was pretending to be the Cavalry and now I was claiming her name as well. She’s so going to kill me if she finds out.

“Look, clearly there's been a misunderstanding. I'm a legitimate businessman.”

I removed my sunglasses.

“Shield has evidence your company has been siphoning funds into an offshore account for some very bad people.”

“My client's business is their business.”

“Well, my business is catching those guys, and if it turns out you've made a profit from just one of them Shield is prepared to freeze all of your assets,” I fibbed. I mean technically they could but I wasn’t an actual agent but Rathman didn’t need to know that.

“I'm calling my lawyer,” he said, getting his cellphone out.

“Do that and my offer's off the table,” I declared.

“What offer is that?”

“Immunity, you walk...free and clear. Shield doesn't touch a single asset. Not even your party boat in Key Largo.”

He pulled his phone away from his ear and looked at it.

“And if I say no?”

“You spend the next five years in The Fridge.”

“The Fridge?”

“It's worse than it sounds,” I stated with a wicked grin.

He took the phone away and shut it off.

“All right, what do you want?”

“Follow me to your office. We've got some work to do.”

I walked toward his office and he turned and followed me. However, he passed by a security system keypad mounted to the wall and hit a button for the silent alarm. I rolled my eyes at this, but let it slide, knowing that I was more than capable to handle a few security guards.

“You want me to hack into a Swiss bank account?”

“I just need you to type in your private corporate ID to get me in the door,” I clarified.

“Yeah, well letting you in that door is a crime. Come to think of it, how do I know you're not just some criminal? In my experience a Federal Agent shows a badge.”

“You want to see my badge?”

He nodded so I leaned in and picked up his cellphone.

“Shield protocol six alpha victor.”

An alarm beeped and I turned his cellphone toward him. He saw the Shield logo and LOCKOUT screen that kept coming up due to my bracelet. 

“There. That's my badge,” I said, smugly.

He took the phone from my hand looking at it with disappointment.

“Great. Just got my high score in Tiny Wings.” I rolled my eyes.

“Shield’s been watching you for quite some time, Mr. Rathman.” I walked around the desk to stand in front of it.

“You're a prime exploit – the gambling, the divorces, that money pit in the Caymans. You're even behind on your child support payments.”

“Ugh, that's a clerical thing. My ex knows that.” I rolled my eyes, doubting that was true.

“But does David know that?”

“David thinks I'm a cool dad,” he said confidently.

“David thinks you're a jackass. You got to fix that, Lloyd. Kids need someone they can look up to. Now...start typing,” I responded bluntly.

“Security! Freeze! Don't move!”

I put my hands up as the guard walks toward me.

“That's it. Nice and easy. Keep your hands where I can –”

I turned around and easily disarmed him. A second guard appeared after I took the first one down to the ground.

“On the ground!”

I aimed the gun in my hand at the second guard, who quickly put his hands up.

“Okay, I-I'm typing, I'm typing,” said Rathman.

“You Shield guys don't mess around.”

I went over to the guards and tied them up as I waited for Rathman to log in.

“All right, we're logged in but you do realize you can't transfer these kinds of funds online.”

“I'm not looking to transfer funds. I'm looking for transaction records,” I said.

I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose in frustration.

“Go to your account history. We need to open up a terminal emulator, see what kind of encryption they've got.”

“Okay,” he said looking lost.

“If it's an SSL 256 or AES Twofish Serpent, we're in business.”

“Yeah.”

“Quantum key, that's another story.”

“Right.”

I noticed he wasn’t doing anything, just staring at the computer.

“Lloyd.”

He just continued to look around on the screen.

“What is happening here?” I asked.

“Yeah, account history. Where is that?” I rolled my eyes and let out a long frustrated sigh and looked over at the security guards; focusing on the younger looking one.”

I quickly untied untied him and made him swap places with Rathman.

“Delete that second line,” I told him. “Press return.”

Rathman leaned over to speak to the other guard. “See, the thing is, I have an assistant that does all this for me.” Of course you do, I thought with another roll of my eyes.

There's a beep and I got excited.

“That's it.”

“So, this Vanchat, is this the guy you're trying to bust?” the guard asked.

“No, we already have him in custody. What I want to know is who's recently paid Vanchat a lot of money. I backtrack those payments to the buyer's account and get a record of all purchases she's made, maybe use it to track her down. Click there,” I pointed to the screen. “Hello Raina. Let's see what you've been up to. Print that.”

“Great, so are we done here?” Rathman asked.

“One last thing.”

I forced him to hand me his car keys and smiled smugly as I drove off in his Lamborghini. I could seriously get used to this. 

As I drove, I reached down and pulled put the SAT phone I had been given and dialed Simmons.

“Hello?”

“Simmons, it's me.”

“Well hello...Dr. Nugent.” I groaned as her voice went high and extremely fake.

“Is someone there? God, don't try to lie! You are the worst at this. Remember our safe word,” I told her.

“Manscaping? Oh, I shouldn't have said that. Um, I am right as rain. Couldn't be better, old chap.” I rolled my eyes.

“Listen up. I may have a lead on where Centipede's holding Coulson,” I informed her.

“Skye?” Oh, crap! Busted.

“What have you found?” May asked. I frowned as I told her, still upset about her not sticking up for me with Hand. 

It only took me a few hours to get to my destination, I was driving as fast as I could down the dirt roads, enjoying the feeling of freedom.

I pulled up as I reached my destination; some sort of rundown town with mannequin people all around. It was some sort of nuclear bomb testing cite that had never been used.

“Got creepy?” I mumbled as I got out and shut the car door.

I walked deeper into the town and looked into one of the homes. There was a compete dinner scene set up inside with the mannequins. I peered inside confused.

“You shouldn't be here.”

I gasped and turned around to see one of the Centipede soldiers standing behind me. I took off running with him just behind me.

“There's nowhere to run!” the soldier cried out.

I sped past the edge of a building and into the open. The soldier was just a step behind, when he was suddenly hit the open area and was quickly hit by a Shield SUV driven by Ward.

“Coulson's got to be here somewhere. We need to split up,” I told the team as they exited the SUV.

“Or run,” Jemma said as she looked over her shoulder.

We all turn to see the other Centipede soldier appearing.

“I'll take care of him,” Ward said.

“Are you sure?” asked May.

Ward reached into his vest and pulled some sort of device out; it looked like something Fitz-Simmons must have invented.

“I got this.”

He ran toward the soldiers and May lead the rest of us away.

“Come on, let's move!”

“Coulson!” I shouted as I ran to one of the houses and opened the door.

I glanced over to see two soldiers approaching May. I met her gaze, silently asking if she needed help but she motioned for me to continue to search for Coulson.

I was running toward another house when I heard Coulson scream out. I quickly turned on the spot and ran in the direction of the scream.

I busted the door to the house down and yanked open one of the side room doors to find Raina hovering over Coulson, who was laying down with his head under some sort of machine.

“It's for his own good,” Raina tried to justify as she walked towards me. 

I growled at her and punched the girl in the face; knocking her out unconscious. I then continued forward towards Coulson.

“Please, let me die! Please let me die! Please let me die!” My eyes widened as I heard his words. 

I took a look at the device and frantically began hitting buttons as May joined me.

“Let me die. Let me die.”

May finally found where the device was plugged in to and she yanked out the cords turning the machine off. It powered down as Coulson continued to cry. 

I knelt down next to him and took a hold of his hand.

“Coulson, Coulson!”

He was unresponsive and still shaking and crying. My heart thumped wildly as I held his hand.

“Come back, come back, come back, come back, come back,” I mumbled over and over. 

Coulson cried out and I teared up at the sound of his pain.

“Skye? Skye,” Coulson said blearily.

I let out a relieved breath as Coulson's breathing eased ip.

“Skye.”

I leaned my head down on his hands and cried. That made two times in almost as many weeks.

********************************************

“Nice jacket,” May said to me once we were all back on the plane. 

I looked down at the nearly identical one May was wearing and we shared a smile. We then glanced down the cargo bay ramp to see Raina there in front of Hand with her hands behind her back being taken into custody.

“Bet there aren't any flowered dresses where she's going,” Jemma commented as Fitz nodded.

“Amen to that, sister,” he said.

“Dismissed,” Hand said to the guards as they took Raina away.

“Just got off the phone with Headquarters. Director Fury was very relived,” we heard Hand tell Coulson.

“I understand you've been busy. Heard you put some miles on my plane,” Coulson replied.

“The manhunt has yielded some impressive results. Centipede operatives have been taken down around the globe.”

“Any word on the Clairvoyant?”

“Nothing yet. But it's gonna be awfully hard to stay hidden now that the Clairvoyant's on Shield’s radar.” As much as I still didn’t like Hand, I did have to agree.

“Good, cause Raina knew things about me – personal things. I want to know how,” said Coulson.

“My men and I are taking her straight to Headquarters for questioning. We'll be in touch,” Hand said, turning to go.

“Agent Hand?” She turned back to him.

“Thank you...for everything.” I watched as the two of them shook hands.

“Good to have you back. Honestly, this Bus isn't really my style.” Well you aren’t our style either, lady!

Once and Hand had left we all move towards Coulson. He turned to face us as we all smiled at him.

“I just want to say...thank you,” he said looking at each of us in turn. “Now get back to work.”

Ward smiled and shook Coulson's hand. May gave him as much of a smile as she's capable of as Fitz clapped him on the arm. I, of course, was the last one to leave and I stepped in closer to him.

“I heard what you did for me,” Coulson said.

I gave him a slow nod of my head, not sure where he was going with this.

“I think it's time that we remove this.” He picked up my arm holding the wrist with the bracelet up close to his mouth. My face broke out into a large excited smile.

“Disengage bracelet.”

My smile dropped as the bracelet beeps a couple of times and opens. Seriously, that’s all it took?!

“Are you kidding me?” I cried out.

Coulson grinned. “Thought you'd like that.”

I laughed and rubbed my bare wrist happily. Glad to be rid of a device that had reminded me way too much of Hydra. I looked up at him.

“Back in that room, did they learn anything?” I asked hesitantly. 

“No.”

“Did you?” I pressed.

He gave me a ghost of a smile.

“I heard what you were saying,” I prodded him. My heart was still pounding with worry.

He slowly shook his head.

“It wasn't real. They were just messing with my head...but I appreciate your concern.”

I nodded and accepted his answer, even though I didn’t believe it.

********************************************

Later that night, I sat on my bed and pulled my phone out.

“Hey, you three. Sorry again for dashing out on you earlier. Hope you like your new phones! They aren’t as snazzy as Stark phones but I did try to build in some bells and whistles that I thought you’d like.” I sighed as I sent out my group message.

I put my phone next to my hula girl as I changed into my pajama’s and got ready for bed.

I was just climbing under the covers when my phone pinged.

Natasha: Hey, Skye! Are you kidding, this thing is wayyy cooler than Tony’s stupid phones! How the hell did you make it look all spidery? 

Clint: Yeah, love the new phone! So much better than the old one. Did you create a few apps on it?

Me: Yeah, I made you some apps to help calculate wind resistance and trajectory to help with your bow and arrowing. Nat, your’s should have pretty much the same ones but built for various types of gun.

Nat: Sick! Thanks. You’d totally give Tony a run for his money if you ever wanted to mass produce these!

Me: Nah, I kinda like that only you guys have them. Or is that weird? 

Steve: Not weird at all, darlin’. Love my red, white, and blue, themed phone! Though I’m struggling a little to figure out how to use it properly. Feel kind of bad.

Me: Aww, don’t feel bad, Stevie! Maybe when we finally have some time together I can walk you through how to use it.

Steve: Yes! That would be amazing!!!

I giggled at the amount of exclamation points. 

Natasha: So did everything turn out all right for your friend?

Me: Yeah, we managed to get him back safe and sound just a little roughed up but he’ll be fine. I’m exhausted though so I think I’m gonna hit the hay.

Steve: Sweet dreams!

Natasha: Nighty night!

Clint: Don’t let the bed bugs bite! ... that’s my job! ;)

I blushed, grateful that no one was there to see.

********************************************

Author’s Note

Let me know how you liked this chapter! That’s like 5 chpts in less than a day so your welcome! Hehe.


	19. Author’s Note

AN - Hey everyone sorry for not updating yet but just wanted to update yall on what’s been floating around in my mind lately. So I recently started watching Lucifer and omg now I want to add him into the story as another one of Skye’s soulmates and then one thought lead to another and so I wanted to float the idea of not only adding Lucifer, but Murdock, Barry, Oliver, and Clark as soulmates along with the other planned avenger characters? I know it might seem like a lot but really like the idea of mashing the storylines together into one big superhero party. Was thinking that when skye breaks away from her team on the Bus that she’d meet either both Murdock and Lucifer or one after the other which cld work since she did work at a nightclub in la and that cld take place before Fury recruits her to the avengers then the arrow/flash verse characters cld come in somewhere else somehow either before or after the battle of new york - havent decided if she will have met all her soulmates in some way by then or after the battle - let me know if y’all have any suggestions for scenarios and your general thoughts on adding those characters in since my imagination likes to go into overdrive sometimes and while it makes sense in my mind I want to make sure its not so overly complicated for you as readers that it isn’t well received.


	20. Seeds (Part 1)

Tony’s POV

I banged my head repeatedly on my desk as I growled loudly in frustration. Several months had passed and still no sign of my soulmate but a fuzzy video of her saving people down in LA. And then several more months of silence. It was driving me crazier then I already was! I didn’t know how much longer I could keep this up for. 

I was Tony freaking Stark for crying out loud! I should have been able to locate her by now! And if it wasn’t a bad enough hit to the ego, the emotions I had been receiving from our bond were just as bad. Anytime she was feeling any strong emotion I would feel it, and knew that the others did as well. It pained me whenever I sensed her feeling scared or upset and the other half of the time I spent in a constant state of desire as I felt her thoughts drift towards the gutter late at night or sometimes during the middle of the day. 

I pulled at my hair as I leapt to my feet and strolled upstairs to the bar to get a drink.

Skye's POV

"There is nothing more unsettling, being a part of something so horrible, completely unaware," Simmons was saying. "A cadet could have died."

"We drew up those concepts years ago. We didn't know they'd be applied in that way," Fitz added.

"Is this the device they found in the frozen pool?" I clarified. I looked over to see Ward nodding. "Correction: the instantly frozen indoor pool."

"It seems like it was planted in the filter days before. Like someone was waiting for those specific cadets," Ward commented.

"Well, as far as they can tell, the device uses a crystalline nucleation process she designed," Fitz pointed at Jemma.

"And a delivery mechanism he invented. That's why we are being asked to consult on the investigation," Simmons pointed at Fitz.

"So, we're going to the Academy?" I said excitedly.

"Science and technology division. Cadets are pretty shaken up over what happened. Agent Weaver asked if you two could speak to the student body about potentiality to calm them down," Ward confirmed. 

"Of course, the talk. We've all heard the talk," Simmons said.

"I haven't," I pointed out.

"I guess you will," said Ward.

"Well, I've heard a lot about the Academy. I'm excited to finally see it," I said, happy.

"Me too. Never been to Sci-Tech before." I looked over at Ward.

"Never?" Huh. The different Shield Academies don't interact?"

Fitz scoffed.

"Not much," Ward explained to me while Simmons also scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Academy of Communications does, but they're the biggest and focused on data analysis."

"Boring," Fitz spoke up.

"It's the easiest to get into," Simmons declared.

"That's where you'd be, Skye." I glanced at Fitz, half of me was okay with that and the other affronted. I think I could easily get into the one Ward had gone to. And I wasn't that dumb about science! Sure I didn't have any degrees or anything but only because I'd never gotten the chance to go to a real school. Hmm, that's something to think about adding to the list...

"Thanks," I mumbled.

"Operations is the most aggressive program. More people wash out of operations than the other academies," Ward supplied. Sounded a lot like Hydra boot camp to me.

"So which one's the hardest to get into?"

Simmons looked at Ward and gave him a smile. I rolled my eyes.

"I'm picking up on the rivalry between sciences and operations." While I spoke, May walked past me, catching my attention. "Are you and Coulson past all that or you gonna help Ward steal their mascot?" I asked.

"We're not going. After we drop you off Coulson and I have other matters to attend to." I frowned after her as she walked off.

"Coulson hasn't come out of his office in a while. Do you think he's all right?" I asked Ward worriedly. 

"We saw him at a low. It's not easy for anybody. But Coulson's as tough as they come. He'll be good. Just give him time. And while he takes that time it's on us to figure out what's going on at the Academy."

We all nodded then broke apart our little meeting.

********************************************

"This was the SSR facility before Shield was even founded. "SSR" stands for –"

"Strategic Scientific Reserve, yeah I know. Is this where you got all your PhDs?" I asked, cutting Jemma off.

"Oh, no. You need at least one to get through the door."

"Is science and technology what you imagined, Agent Ward?" asked Fitz to Ward.

"Yep. No uniforms, no rope courses, no defined muscularity on anyone."

"No marching in place, no IQs in the double digits," Fitz retorted.

An older woman walked up to us with a smile.

"There they are. So good to see you."

"You look as lovely as ever," replied Jemma with a warm smile and shaking her hand.

"I concur," Fitz agreed, also shaking her hand.

"Thank you."

"Agent Ward. Pleasure to have you, sir."

"Agent Weaver. There's a list of suspects?"

"Based on the level of intelligence it would take to put a device together like the one we found we've narrowed it down to the top 10% of our cadets. I'm worried there's a bad seed."

Ward leaned in toward me to explain. "Ops and Sciences have differences, but both have to be careful about what we call "bad seeds". People who want to use the tools we give them for –"

"Bad seed" isn't a Shield term, Ward, just a term," I told him with a roll of my eyes.

He gave me his blank stoic face as I gave him a little grin, it looked like Weaver had a grin too.

"I know you've already questioned the victim, but I have a few questions I'd like to ask him myself," Ward said to Weaver.

"I'll arrange for you to talk to Seth Dormer when he's out of class. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd like to get Agents Fitz and Simmons settled into the lecture hall."

She started off with Fitz and Simmons following after leaving Ward and I behind. The two of us watched Fitz-Simmons and Weaver get surrounded by other cadets.

"Look at them, the popular kids. Who knew?" I joked.

"I did. Come on. While we have a minute I think there's something you'll want to see."

I rose my brows questioningly but followed all the same as we walked inside one of the buildings and up to some sort of large plaque in the center of the large room.

"The Wall of Valor," I commented in awe.

"So you've read about it."

"Every Shield facility has a memorial to the agents lost in the line of duty," I recited as I walked closer to the memorial. "Shield's history can be traced on walls like this." I reached out and touched a name.

""Bucky" Barnes." Could that possibly be the same Bucky as the Bucky I knew as the Winter Soldier? It would make sense, considering the world had thought both him and Steve were dead until recently.

"Puts it in perspective, what we do."

"Must make you guys proud, all this history. Just wish I was a part of it," I said sadly. I could see Ward taking in my words as I turned to look at him. "It's not self-pity, really. I'm just saying everyone here has earned this. They deserve it. I hacked my way in, feels like I cheated."

"All you need to join is a dedication to the greater good. Coulson saw that in you the moment he met you." I couldn't help but blush and lower my head. Thinking that Coulson hadn't known the truth about me when he'd first met me. Then again, he knew now, and didn't seem to be angry with me anymore about it.

********************************************

Coulson's POV

"You want to tell me why we're flying to Mexico City?" I asked May as I sat in my office flipping through the pages Fury had finally given me with the details of my death.

"To get your head working on something else. I've been looking into Skye's past, like you asked, into the agent who dropped her off at the orphanage," May explained.

"Agent Avery. She was killed," I said.

"But her partner wasn't. He disappeared."

May handed me a tablet and I took it from her looking at it, there was a Shield identification on the screen.

"Agent Lumley," I read.

"Went off grid 25 years ago, day after Avery was crossed off."

"He's resurfaced?"

"A few days ago, a Mexican teenager posted a selfie on his Facebook page," May replied, taking the tablet and pulling up the photo before handing it back to me. "Managed to capture our guy leaving a grocery store in the background."

"If he's good enough to avoid Shield all these years he'll know," I pointed out.

"And he'll be on the move," May said. I nodded. "We have a short window to intercept."

"He may have killed Agent Avery," I commented.

"Or wanted to avoid the same fate," May shot back.

"Find him, we find out. How long till we touch down?"

May smiled. "40 minutes." She started walking out. "I'll gas the car."

********************************************

Skye's POV

I listened and laughed along with the students as Fitz-Simmons gave their lecture on potentiality. It was interesting to watch them in this environment, to see the entire audience listening eagerly to their every word. It really made me want to go to school myself.

I had to admit though, I thought Jemma was being a tad hypocritical considering half of her time was spent talking about wanting to experiment on people with powers.

"Oh, God. Oh, God!" one of the students cried out during the middle of their lecture; standing up quickly and looking down at himself. "What is this?!?"

I stared in shock at the ice forming around his feet spreading up his legs. Quickly enveloping him before anyone could even get to him. One of the cadets screamed when Donnie was entombed in ice.

"Find exposed skin! He needs glucose to raise his body's natural freezing point," Simmons directed as she and Fitz ran over to the poor boy.

The cadets moved out of the way as Ward entered the lecture hall; helping me to try and locate the device that was causing this.

I finally managed to spot it tucked under the seat in front of Donnie.

"Ward, there it is. Fitz, what now?" I exclaimed as I pointed to the device.

"Smash the damn thing!"

Ward kicked down hard on the device breaking it. I heard it powering down and when it did the ice on Donnie began to break apart. He groaned then collapsed but Fitz was there to catch him and lower him to the ground. 

"It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. It's over."

The cadets, all still standing, applauded Fitz-Simmons. 

I made my way over to Donnie half an hour later as various people walked around the lecture hall with different instruments testing things. 

"You can't think of anyone who'd want to hurt you?"

"I don't know anyone."

"Donnie, I'm going to have you escorted back to your room. You get some rest and stay warm," Weaver said as she approached our spot on the stairs.

Donnie got up off the stairs and walked past Fitz-Simmons. "Sorry I ruined your lecture. I was really looking forward to it."

"It's not your fault, Donnie."

"No genetic materials or prints found on the device. The components are rare and expensive," Fitz informed us after Donnie had left.

"Freshman pranks are tradition but these are something else," Jemma added.

"Attempted murder," commented Agent Weaver.

"So, Donnie was the intended target all along? He have anything in common with the cadets at the pool?" Ward asked.

"These kids were popular, Donnie was –"

"Not," I interjected.

"Donnie hadn't made any enemies but he hadn't made any friends either."

I listened as Fitz-Simmons discussed Donnie's level of intellect/social interactions with his peers. I couldn't help but see the resemblance in my own life; not about being a super uber genius; but the part about not fitting in. Hydra hadn't been all too worried about teaching me good social skills. I frowned, not liking the idea that I might end up that way forever. I definitely needed to try and make more of an effort to be social and make new priends; I just had no idea how I was going to do so when the team and I were always hopping from one place to another. I guess I could start by reaching out to Steve, Clint, and Natasha. I just had no clue what to say to start up a conversation. 

"But he doesn't like it here, so I'm afraid he'll wash out," Weaver was saying when I finally clued back into the conversation.

"Maybe that was the idea. Agent Weaver keep working with investigations. Interviewing cadets, instructors," said Ward.

"And us?" I inquired.

"Their interviews won't bear fruit. We teach cadets to keep secrets." He turned to walk out of the hall and we followed him. "Where did you guys hang out when you wanted to get away from the faculty?"

"Can we tell someone from operations?" I chuckled at the look on her face.

"Yes, because we need to conduct our own investigation."

********************************************

Coulson's POV

"Dario Marquez's dress shop. Marquez doesn't do the best papers in town but he also doesn't use a computer," I commented as May and I sat in Lola scoping out the street.

"So if Lumley's gonna make a run for it your guess is he might pass through that door."

"It's worth a shot, so we wait," I said with a shrug.

********************************************

Skye's POV

"And when we get there?" Simmons asked.

"We mingle, low key. You and Skye get comfortable with the students see if you can get them gossiping. Skye looks young enough to blend in." Was that a compliment or a diss? I couldn't quite tell. 

"You're not exactly Old Man River and Fitz looks younger than us!" I pointed out.

"Time will come when you won't make fun of me for that. You'll be jealous. You'll be jealous, wrinkly old hags," Fitz said. I rolled my eyes as Simmons and I shot him a look.

"I want Fitz to go talk to Donnie." 

Fitz turned and looked at Ward. "Sorry?"

"Donnie's withdrawn, might know more than he's letting on. You're a hero here, Fitz. He looks up to you. Go hang out with him. Even if he has no clue who might be after him, he could use a friend." 

"That is a wonderful idea," Simmons said with a smile. 

"Ward has them from time to time," Fitz commented. Ward looked sharply at him while I grinned. 

"I'll meet you later.'' He walked off and both Simmons and I turned and looked at Ward with smug looks on our faces. 

"What? It's strategic." 

"It's adorable," Jemma said. 

"The Tin Man has a heart after all!" I exclaimed as I swatted him on his chest. He rolled his eyes then started walking again.

"So, where are we going?" he asked, clearly trying to avoid responding to my comment. 

Simmons and I laughed as we followed after him.

"Shield keeps careful watch of everything within their walls. So, in the late 60s to escape the cameras and the prying eyes of the faculty a few cadets started sneaking down to the boiler room to play cards, you know, exchange ideas." 

"My kind of people," I said with a smirk. 

"Some amazing breakthroughs have come out of here. So the tradition lives on," Simmons said as she lead us deeper into the building. 

"Of cramming into the boiler room?" I asked, confused. 

Simmons pulled on a door and gave me a smile over her shoulder. I could hear bass bumping and see flashing lights giving the boiler room more of a bar feeling. It reminded me very much of when I worked at Nights. 

"Well, over the years, we made a few improvements," Simmons said with a smirk. 

Skye laughed as we entered on a catwalk overlooking the scene. Now that we get a good look it looked like a Shield nightclub. There were people dancing, drinking and playing pool and on the wall was the large Shield logo. 

"Do you have one of these at operations?" asked Simmons smugly. 

"Nah." 

"Did not think so."

"Drinks are on me!" I said, wishing for the hundredth time that alcohol had an effect on me.

********************************************

Coulson's POV

"All right, what's up?" I asked suspiciously.

"You tell me," May responded.

"You're talking, more than ever," I pointed out.

"Cause you're not."

"And you suddenly became active on the Skye investigation?" I prompted. 

"She's proved herself, stepped up in a big way, for our team, for you," May answered.

"Is that it, or is it just to distract me?" I said, not quite believing it.

She let out a deep sigh.

"Both. I know you're having a hard time believing what –"

"They changed my memories. Who's to say they didn't change more?" I cried out frustratedly.

May sighed once again.

"I say. I know you, Phil, and I knew you before. You know I'd be the first to go down that road if I thought it led somewhere. Do you believe me, at least?" I paused, it wasn't that I didn't trust her, more that I didn't trust myself. "Do you –"

"Yes."

"Good."

We looked at each other a moment.

"But I'm tired of secrets, so I'm glad we're here. We need to root out all the secrets."

"Agent Ward and I have been having sex –" I closed my eyes briefly, trying to pretend I did not hear what I thought I had. When I opened them again, I thankfully found something to distract me.

"I got him!" I spoke up, spotting Lumley and quickly getting out of Lola. 

********************************************

”Cyanide? What did you think we were gonna do to you?” I asked Lumley once we were back on the plane and sitting in the main lounge area.

“What they did to her,” he said pointing down to the picture of the dead agent.

“Agent Linda Avery?” I confirmed.

“She wasn't the first one to die. We were headed to the Santorini Island in Greece. A senior agent had called in an 0-8-4.”

“An object of unknown origin. We've dealt with those before,” I commented.

”He said the entire village had died trying to protect this one. Avery and I were just fresh out of the Academy. And there were five of us just running the back end, until we lost communications with the first team. We went searching. We found the senior agent under a bridge. He – he managed to escape with a gunshot wound to the neck but he bled out. He was still holding on to the 0-8-4.” He scoffed and shook his head as I gave him a confused look.

“Poor thing was covered in blood. We thought she was dead, too, but sh – she was just asleep in the dead agent's arms.”

I leaned forward.

“I – the baby? The girl was the 0-8-4?” My eyes widened as I gave May a side glance. 

“If she had powers or something, we never witnessed it. The five of us helicoptered the kid off, headed home. After we landed, we started getting crossed off.”

“Executed?”

“Tortured, heads bashed in. And when it came down to Avery and I we realized the only way to keep our people and the kid from being hunted –”

“Was to erase her from existence,” I said with a nod, starting to understand, but still baffled at the idea that Skye was an 0-8-4.

”Avery was smart. She used a lead agent's credentials to fake a Level 8 clearance. She set up a nearly invisible protocol. The foster system was ordered to move the child around every few months.”

“But they still got to Avery,” I pointed out, not bothering to mention that unfortunately for Skye, she had not lasted long in the foster system before getting kidnapped by Hydra. The foster system was not always perfect, but compared to being trapped by Hydra, she would have been better off in the system.

“She died protecting that secret.”

“And you left town.”

“Oh, I left everything. I mean, whoever killed that kid's family and all those agents was a force to be reckoned with.”

“And that girl –” May started to say.

“Don't tell me a damn thing about her. I don't want to know. You understand? Just tell me, is she okay?”

“She's safe,” I reassured him.

“Then maybe it was all worth it. You taking me in?”

“Yeah,” May said with a nod as she started to walk to the cockpit.

“No,” I countered. “I'm not sure Shield is the safest place for you right now. We'll get in the air and drop you somewhere along the route.”

“Thank you. Bit of advice, stop digging, and stay the hell away from that girl. Cause wherever she goes, death follows.”

May and I shared a look then continued to walk away.

“It's best no one knows about this, for Skye's safety and for ours. You can never tell her,” she said giving me a grave look.

********************************************

Author’s Note

\- Hope y’all liked my latest chapter! Sorry bout the wait! Added a little Tony POV to help make up for the slow update and I’m planning to add some phone convo between skye and her soulmates in the next chapter. If anyone has any suggestions on conversation topics please let me know!


	21. Seeds (Part 2)

Skye’s POV

I chatted with the bartended while I waited for him to hand me a couple of beers. Once I had the information I needed I grabbed the beers and walked over to where Ward was leaning. 

“Bartender seemed chatty,” commented Ward as he rolled his eyes.

“He’s in computer sciences. Didn’t take long to convince him I was a Level 7 CS operative. And guess where I’m stationed, The Sandbox.”

“Good thinking.” Wow, was that a compliment?!

”I asked if any of the cadets had hopes on getting assigned there,” I told Ward, who nodded his understanding. “Behind me, the curls.”

Ward scanned the room and focused on Callie playing pool.

“Callie Hannigan, ambitious, gunned hard for getting assigned to The Sandbox. And apparently word’s gotten around she lost the top spot,” I filled him in.

“She was at the pool.”

“But didn’t want to go in,” I added with a raise of my brows.

Ward nodded at me with a grin before getting up to talk to Callie. I raised my hand up, realized with a grimace that I was holding a beer and with a grin, used my newly discovered powers to levitate a cranberry vodka from one of the tables into my hand without anyone noticing.

I sipped happily, still unable to enjoy the benefits of being drunk, but still appreciating the berry flavor over the taste of beer.

A few minutes later I listened worriedly as Simmons called Fitz to fill him in - apparently the attacks had been staged to draw the two scientists to campus. I had a really bad feeling.

********************************************

“How could I have been so stupid?” Fitz mumbled as Simmons and I walked next to him up the cargo ramp to meet Coulson and May.

“Fitz, will you stop?” Simmons said as Coulson and May approached us.

“I’m sorry, sir. It’s my fault.”

“Any word on the missing cadets?” Coulson responded, ignoring the apology.

”Ward’s coordinating the search with Agent Weaver. They’ve set up a perimeter and are going building to building,” Simmons filled in.

”Where did you guys go? We’ve been trying to reach you,” I asked suspiciously. My brows raising further when I noticed Coulson glancing sideways at May before looking at me again.

“Not now,” he responded, turning to look back to Fitz-Simmons. “How dangerous are they?”

“Extremely dangerous. This device turns any moisture around it to ice very rapidly at a great range.”

“But Donnie’s a good kid, just felt isolated. Seth must have befriended him to manipulate him, using him to finish the – the product.”

“Product?” May asked.

It’s like the thought occurred to Fitz as soon as he said the word product, he squeezed his eyes closed in anger. 

“Okay, I think they have a backer. The device, the components are incredibly rare and expensive. Nothing either of them could find on the open market themselves.”

“If the parts are that rare, we can trace the purchases!” I said.

“Sometimes it’s not a bad seed, just a bad influence. Let’s go,” commented Coulson.

********************************************

“We were worried about bad influences? He’s the worst there is,” I said, glaring at the picture before me as I had flashbacks.

“Ian Quinn? You’ve got to be kidding,” Coulson said.

“Thermopile radiation sensors,” Fitz started to say.

”Shipped to Seth’s father who’s a lawyer for Quinn Worldwide. Quinn’s buying their technology,” I finished for him.

“What a sleaze,” said Simmons. I nodded in agreement, unable to stop the memory of the look on Quinn’s face as we had sat on the couch together.

I glanced over to see that Coulson seemed very lost in thought as Simmons continued to talk.

“The cadets have no idea he’s a criminal. To them he’s just a venture capitalist.”

“This is Quinn’s M.O. He finds young talent and he takes advantage, right?” I pointed out, looking at Coulson who said nothing.

“Hello?”

“Contact Ward and Agent Weaver. Have them widen their search to include Ian Quinn.” I squinted my eyes at Coulson, wondering why he was avoiding my gaze.

“Hey, can I talk to you for a second?” I asked as Fitz-Simmons left the room and I walked around the table to get closer to Coulson.

“I have to brief May.”

“Just, two seconds, that’s all!”

“Yeah.” He walked away and I followed.

“Ever since you got back from who knows where you won’t even look at me. And I know things have been heavy right now, but…did I do something wrong?” I asked in confusion as Coulson lead me down one of the deserted hallways.

Coulson still couldn’t seem to bring himself to look at me, he seemed to prefer staring at his feet for the moment. Which reminded me more of something I would do, not him.

“No.” He finally looked up from the ground and turned to look at me.

“I did. Ian Quinn’s not the only one who manipulates people, Skye. We do it all the time, actually teach it at the Academy. It’s our trade.”

I looked at him worriedly. “What are you talking about?”

“I’ve been keeping something from you. But recently, I realized I had no right to do that.”

“You lied to me?!”

Coulson nodded. “Agent May and I went down to Mexico City to talk to somebody. Somebody who knows where you came from.”

I shifted a bit then readied myself. “Tell me.”

“When we started this, I warned you…that you might not like what you learn.”

“And I told you…” I paused, trying to keep my emotions in check. “That it can’t be worse than what I have imagined.”

Coulson waited a beat before responding.

“It is.”

This took me by surprise, that it could be that bad.

“The agent who dropped you at St. Agnes was not your mother. But she was killed trying to protect you. 24 years ago, an entire Shield team in a small village on an Island in Greece were massacred.”

I could feel my cheeks dampen as tears began to stream down them as Coulson continued with his story.

I glanced up at Coulson from time to time with sadness nodding my head as I struggled to take it all in.

When he was finished, he placed a comforting hand on my cheek while I cried. I lowered my head into my hand and began to sob as Coulson moved his hand from my cheek to my shoulder. 

********************************************

“How do we stop it? Coulson asked, circling around the holocom as he talked to the team.

“We can’t stop it. They’re in real trouble,” commented Fitz.

“Where is the device?” May asked.

“Most likely right there,” Simmons answered, touching the center of the storm on the map. “Dead center of the storm.”

“We’ve got to get Donnie out of there,” Fitz said.

“Ward, how are things on the ground?”

“We’ve got most everyone safe in the Boiler Room,” I heard Ward answer. I kept my mouth shut, my mind still reeling from Coulson’s news. “How bad is this gonna get?”

“Bad. Can you reach the North Campus Parking Garage? We think Donnie Gill and his device may be trapped in the center of the storm.”

“That’s not far from where I am,” Ward replied, but I had a sinking feeling in my stomach as he preemptively told us that he could get there.

“Yeah, I can’t get there,” he amended a few seconds later. 

“Is there any other way to get to Donnie?” Coulson asked as he looked over at us. “Think fast, people.” I didn’t even bother to glance up or to try and think of anything. My mind to bogged down with sadness and a strange numbness to be able to concentrate on anything. Hydra had subjected me to all sorts of torture, but this...this was...I didn’t have any words.

“I know a way,” said Fitz.

********************************************

“Hold on tight,” May warned as we flew over the storm.

I sat strapped like the rest of the team in the cargo hold but my mind was still upside down and I barely registered my surroundings. I did however, notice when Coulson looked over at me then took a hold of my hand. 

I got up slowly as we landed in front of Donnie and his friend. The others dashed off while I lingered behind.

“He’s been hurt! Please, you need to help him now,” I heard Donnie crying out to my team. I closed my eyes. This wasn’t going to end well.

Fitz, Coulson and Donnie picked up Seth and carried him onto The Bus.

“He’s in cardiac arrest! Skye, get a blanket for his head! Lay him down here! Sir, I need an A.E.D.! Fitz oxygen!”

I reached over to the wall before handing Simmons the device while the others set the kid down on the floor of the cargo hold.

“I got it,” Coulson said.

“Prep 0.4 millimeters of Epinephrine.”

“Got it!” Fitz exclaimed as well as Simmons began chest compressions as The Bus took off. 

“Get ready to clear,” Simmons said as we were all thrown off our balance when turbulence hit. Simmons recovered quickly and got back to Seth.

I closed my eyes as I watched her fail several times to get Seth’s heart beating again. So much death...

“No!” Donnie cried over and over. I put a comforting hand on his back, but my mind was less focused on comfort and rather on the finality of life.

********************************************

Coulson’s POV

“Did, uh, you hear what I said in Mexico? May asked me as we watched Donnie being driven away. I gave her a confused look.

“What, specifically?”

“A-about Ward and me, um…”

“Yeah, I heard.” I frowned, not liking the idea of my soulmate sleeping around, but our relationship had always been a weird one, she’d even been married at one point and as for myself, I had been in love with a cellist a while back. Our lives were so chaotic and ever changing that we seemed to rely on each other more for moral support and friendship more than anything else. I personally thought it was because both of us were too scared to delve any deeper for fear of ruining things with our behavioral traits.

“I trust you know what you’re doing and if it’s a problem…” I started to say.

“I’ll end it.”

I nodded and gave her a little smile. She set down her coffee cup and looked back up at me.

“Skye requested a moment alone on campus.” I slowly nodded, knowing where she was going with this.

“You told her, didn’t you?”

“I had to.”

May sighed and shook her head. “It must have destroyed her to hear all that.”

“That’s the thing about Skye. What I told her shattered her world. Her lifelong search led to stories of murder and now it’s too difficult to continue. Her search is over. Her story ends here. But you know what she said?”

“Tell me.”

“She said no, her story started here. Her whole life she thought she wasn’t wanted, that she didn’t belong, that the only family she had ever known was the one that tortured and experimented on her every day. But all that time, she had a family out there, protecting her, looking for her. That’s what she took away from the story. Not the family she’ll never have but the one she’s always had. Here I am, telling her something that could destroy her faith in humanity and somehow she manages to repair a little piece of mine.”

********************************************

3rd Person POV

Skye flopped on her bed later that night with a heavy sigh. She glanced sideways as her phone buzzed. She picked it up and gave another sigh as she read through the new messages.

Widowmaker: Is everything ok?

AmericanPie: Everything ok, dollface?

Arrowman: You alright, sweetheart?

Skye sighed, not knowing how to respond, but remembering her promise from earlier to start reaching out more and socializing.

Skye: Yeah, everything is fine. I just...got some news that surprised me is all, but I’m actually glad you messaged, I was planning to do so myself.

Arrowman: Really? No offense, beautiful, but you don’t seem the type to talk easily.

Skye: Yeah, sorry bout that, but I met this kid today who had spent most of his time alone and without social skills and it made me realize I didn’t want to turn out like that...

AmericanPie: Hey, now! We would never let that happen! We’d never let you feel alone!

Skye couldn’t help but roll her eyes. 

Skye: Of course you’d say that! 

AmericanPie: What’s that supposed to mean?

Skye: Nothing, just, that there’s a reason you’re America’s sweetheart! You think that their is good in everybody but that’s not always the case. Seriously, I love that you have this innocent friendly neighbor thing going for ya, but I gotta say, it makes me wanna corrupt the heck out of you...

Skye: Oh shit...I just realized how that sounded, scratch that!

Skye groaned inwardly as she read over her last messages and realized the implication she had made; thus sending her mind down a deep hole. 

She glanced down as her phone suddenly started to ring.

“H-hello?” she said suspiciously as she tried to clear her throat and her mind.

“Hey there, sweetcheeks!” 

“Clint? Why’d you call? We were just texting?!” Skye heard giggles in the background and guessed correctly that they belonged to Steve and Natasha.

“No reason, I just figured it’d be easier to continue this conversation over the phone. Lesson one in social skills, if you can’t talk in person, over the phone is the next best!” he said cheerfully. “I also really wanted to hear your voice when I asked what you were thinking about just now.”

“W-what d-do you mean?” Skye squeaked out as her face flushed as she thought about the scene that had been playing in her mind involving the corruption of a certain someone. 

“Oh I think you know exactly what I’m talking about,” Clint teased. He grinned as he heard his soulmate stuttering in embarrassment. He looked over at Steve, who was blushing like mad and Natasha, who was grinning like a fox. 

********************************************

Author’s Note

\- Wasn’t sure bout the nicknames for the text convos so let me know what you think/if y’all have any suggestions!


	22. T.R.A.C.K.S

Skye's POV

"Ian Quinn." Coulson stated.

"You found him?" May asked eagerly.

"No, but we think we know how we can. Skye tracked down an invoice from one of his shell companies. He made a big purchase recently."

"10 million dollars big," I chimed in.

"Any idea what it is?" asked Simmons.

"No clue. But it was designed and built by Cybertek, Inc. A small firm that deals in advanced technology and research," I replied.

"Which is where this gets interesting," Coulson added. "They've hired a private-security outfit to transport the purchase, former military, ex-mercs."

"Lot of muscle to move one package," commented Ward.

"And they know Shield's got eyes on Quinn," Coulson pointed out.

"Which is why they're transporting it old school," I informed everyone.

"On a train, through the Italian countryside, from Verona to Zagreb – very rural, very isolated."

"And you think Quinn's on that train?" May clarified.

"No, but I believe that they're delivering the item to Quinn himself. We got our intel from Italian authorities who have been monitoring the situation."

"And they don't mind us taking over the op?" May said in surprise.

"I asked very nicely," Coulson answered with a grin. I rolled my eyes. "If everything goes as planned, Cybertek's security team won't even know we were on the train."

"So we're going in undercover," piped in Ward.

May let out a huffing sigh. "I hate undercover."

********************************************

I lead Fitz to a compartment at the back of the train where we would be running communications.

"Are you nervous?" Fitz asked me as we looked over maps.

"Just, ready for this to all be over. I'm ready to get Quinn," I replied.

"Me, too. So are we British or American?"

"Does that matter?" I asked, bewildered. I had a fairly decent British Accent thanks to Hydra but I didn't feel like going through all that. It was too much of a reminder of Hydra and their many many many lessons.

"Well, we're traveling together, we should at least be from the same Country. How's your Scottish accent?"

"I don't know. You tell me how great it is, Laddie," I said, purposefully butchering the job, hoping he would let the matter slide.

"American, then. That's a better idea," Fitz said with a frown.

I gave him a big smile. "Oh, that was really good."

"I used to watch a lot of American TV growing up. Some of it's quite good. Lots of nice teeth," he replied in his normal voice.

"Oh, here we go. Follow my lead!" I said noticing the conductor.

The conductor came closer and I picked up a map.

"Excuse me, do you speak English?"

"Of course. How may I be of service?"

"Can you recommend a restaurant in downtown Zagreb?"

Fitz jumped in speaking with his American accent.

"Someplace affordable, with big portions," I rolled my eyes at this, but sadly, it was a pretty accurate representation.

"You are looking for something romantic?"

"Yes. Please," I confirmed. I giggled and kissed Fitz on his cheek, not being able to help but think about Tony, Steve, Clint, and Natasha, as I did so.

"We are celebrating our six month anniversary with a whirlwind trip all over Europe. Well, technically, we met six months ago, but he didn't ask me out till last month, so our official one month anniversary isn't until next –"

"Sunday," Fitz finished.

"Saturday," I corrected.

"Saturday."

"Yeah. I think he found me intimidating," I said, suddenly leaning in close to the conductor and reaching forward to unclip the keys from his Conductor's belt.

"Young love, so...confusing," he stated.

"Is it?" I said smiling as he dashed off and we made our way to the end of the train. I used the keys to unlock the container that held all the luggage with Fitz right behind me.

"You, uh, got a little flustered back there," I said, smirking at Fitz.

"What, when you kissed me on the cheek like my grandmother? Good going. Really selling our relationship there," he responded.

I noticed a table in the train car and set down my stuff sitting on one of the chairs while Fitz did the same.

"I have a device that could've done those things broken the lock and all that."

"What? Why wouldn't you tell me that?" I asked in surprise.

"I'm always the gadget guy. Maybe sometimes I want to do things with my bare hands."

"You make the gadgets with your bare hands,"I pointed out as I worked on my computer.

"Just allow me the rare moments of self-pity, okay?"

I smiled as I looked at my laptop.

"You're the least supportive pretend girlfriend I've ever had."

I laughed.

"Comms are live. Coulson?" I asked. "Simmons? You in position?"

"Yes. Just waiting on May's signal," Coulson confirmed. - You think all that backstory's necessary?" I heard him asking Simmons when I zoned back in to the comms.

"Past events, like that unfortunate incident at The Hub, have shown me that I'm not good at improvisation. However, I excel at preparation," I heard Simmons reply. Amen, to that, sister! I mentally nodded in agreement, thinking back to the chaos she had caused back at the Hub.

I giggled as Simmon's undercover story played out.

"Prostitutes? Plural?" I heard Coulson complain towards the end. I tried to control a fit of laughter at this. The idea was preposterous. 

"May, coming your way," Coulson informed the team.

"Copy that. Following the target to the package."

"Great," I commented as she activated her sunglasses. We see what you see."

"All right, May, Cybertek cases are usually lined with tungsten polymer to prevent scanning. It should appear black on your infrared," Fitz informed May. "Bingo! Uh, eye's on the package, fourth seat from the back."

As he finished his statement, there was a bell like sound as an announcement was made throughout the train.

"As we round the bend the passengers on the north side of the train can take in the views of the famous Tre Cime Di Lavaredo. Isn't it a wonder?"

"I wish we had more time to take in the scenery," Fitz commented as we listened to the announcement. "Three peaks of Lavaredo, supposed to be stunning."

"Any chance what's in there could be an 0-8-4?" I asked, my curiosity getting the best of me. I couldn't help remembering the news Coulson had given me about my own origin story.

"This? Now, we may not know what it is, but we do know that it came from Cybertek," Fitz answered as he pointed to the black box from May's feed that was plastered on the computer screen.

"Right. Unknown origin. And the one we found in Peru was a machine, but they don't always have to be, right?" I pressed. Wanting more answers since I myself was classified as one. 

"No. No, I've read about all kinds – weapons, spacecraft, energy sources. I suppose the only thing they really do have in common is that they're dangerous."

"Right," I said, slowly. Not liking this at all, but he had a point. I was incredibly dangerous. 

"Hey, whatever this package turns out to be, we'll deal with it, like we always do. We've faced worse and made it through."

"Fitz, have you ever head of an 0-8-4 being a person?" I fished.

"No. Although I – I suppose it's possible. Hate to meet the guy." I frowned at his assumption that it would be a guy, and then at his comment about not wanting to meet them.

Suddenly our tech started making static noises. We looked at the computers and read-outs and everything was scrambled. 

"Whoa. May's goggles are offline. When did that happen?" Fitz commented.

I quickly put in my earpiece as I also used my super hearing to see if I could catch any news.

"May, do you copy?" Fitz called out into his earpiece.

"All comms and phones are dead. Someone's using some sort of electric scrambler," I informed him.

"Cybertek knows we're here."

"We have to warn our team!"

We both got out of our chairs and turned toward the door, right as it's kicked in and a man appeared aiming a gun at us.

"Fitz, get down!" I cried out.

We both ducked behind shelves holding luggage. Fitz got out the Night-night gun and blindly fires it around the corner of the shelves. I used the shooters distraction to push a large trunk at the man then punched him in the face. 

We continued to fight accidentally knocking Fitz down as I went to aim a gun at our attacker. The man held up some sort of grenades right as Simmons ran into the luggage car.

"We've been made!" she exclaimed, stopping when the man turned and she saw the grenade. "Oh, bloody hell!"

The man turned toward her pushing into her as she tried to hold him back.

"Jemma!" Fitz and I cried.

She hugged herself to the man right as the grenade goes off, they both fell to the floor with Simmons still holding on to him.

"Oh, my God!"

I hurried to Simmons and checked her neck for a pulse. I saw some type of blue lines running out from her eyes that reminded me of the night night guns.

"She's okay," I said with a sigh of relief.

"Okay. Hold her up." Fitz brought over a couple of big bags. "There we go."

We propped her head up on the bag, as we did so, we saw the lines around her eyes fade. Fitz looked from the man to Simmons.

"I think this is some form of Dendrotoxin."

Fitz had the device in his hand and showed it to me.

"The same stuff that's in the Night-night gun?" I asked as he all but confirmed my suspicions.

"Yeah. It's clearly evolved. I think they made it airborne."

"Is that why their eyes are open?"

"I suppose if they were in some sort of black sleep that would make sense." He reached out and shut Simmons eyes.

"We got to get out of here. Find the others and figure out what to do next!" I stated.

"Yeah, but help me move Simmons first. Can't just leave her like this. Look at her little face, she'd be so embarrassed."

"We should leave her with something to protect herself, just in case," I added as we shifted her into a hiding spot.

Fitz walked over with a Night-night gun. "Yeah. I have a spare." He loaded the gun and put it into Simmons' hand.

"What about him?" I said, looking over to our attacker. Fitz looked over and before I could say or do anything, fired two rounds of the Night Night gun. 

"That's for Simmons," he said as I smirked.

We stuffed the man into a box and closed the lid with satisfaction. The wheels on the train suddenly squeaked as the train came to a stop, Fitz and I were thrown about.

"Train's stopped," Fitz said, pointing out the obvious.

"I know. And I looked everywhere, May, Ward and Coulson are gone," I said with a roll of my eyes.

"What about Cybertek?"

Just then, we heard something outside the train.

We clambered up to get a good look out of the upper window to see the man we had been tracking with the "ashes" as well as the woman we saw in the very beginning and another man walking towards a waiting SUV. Fitz and I hurried to the window in the luggage car and wiped it clean to get a look.

"They have the package, Fitz."

We watched as it got loaded into the back of one of the SUVs.

"What do we do? We're the only ones left."

"Do you have an extra tracker?" 

"Of course."

"Then we follow them," I stated authoritatively.

********************************************

Fitz and I moved among some trees getting close to a fancy looking house a few hours later.

"Hey, look," I pointed out.

We could see the people from the train standing on the front steps waiting. A car pulled up and we looked at it expectantly. Fitz and I moved a bit closer keeping low to the ground. I hissed as I saw Quinn get out.

"Coulson was right. Cybertek led us to Quinn," said Fitz.

"Activate the tracker, let them know we're here," I told him as I watched Quinn shaking hands.

"You want to go in," Fitz stated as he looked at me and activated the tracker.

"We can't let Quinn get away again. If Coulson were here he wouldn't let that happen. He wouldn't want us to let that happen."

Fitz nodded. "You're right." He took off his backpack and unzipped it. "Let's do it."

"Can you disable their cars?"

"With my bare hands," replied Fitz confidently.

He held up a little device and then threw it and caught it causing me to smile a little bit. He pulled the Night-night gun out of his bag handing it to me. "Take this."

I shook my head. "You'll need it out here."

"Just take it."

I looked up at him then took the gun.

"Be careful, okay?"

I grinned. "You, too."

I stuck close to the side of the house moving toward a door. I turned and saw a man on the porch. I surprised him and was able to shoot him with the Night-night gun. The first round didn't do much but then I shot him in the head knocking him out before he could sound an alarm or get his gun out. I hurried up the stairs, past his body and into the house.

I slowly walked down a hallway, hearing voices talking, so I inched quietly toward the sounds. A door further down the hallway opened and I ducked inside a doorway; watching as a blonde woman and a man exit.

"Find Mr. Quinn. Tell him his purchase is downstairs," the woman was saying.

"Si."

They turned down a hallway and I came out of my hiding spot when their voices grew distant. They had left open the door they just came out of, so I walked over and looked in - there were stairs leading down. I took a deep breath and went down the steps and found a door at the end. 

I opened it up then slowly made my way inside. It looked like I was in some sort of wine cellar. There were bottles here and there and racks on the walls to hold them. I could also see a table and sitting on top of it was the package. What didn't belong in a wine cellar was the hyperbaric chamber set off to the side - not really a part of wine cellar motif if you ask me. 

I made my way over to the package slowly looking over my shoulder from time to time. I reached the package and put my hand on it confirming it was what I was looking for. I then turned my attention to the chamber and walked towards it. I peered down into the window and felt my eyes go wide with shock. 

"Mike!" I exclaimed in surprise as I stared down at the sleeping man.

"Hello."

I gasped and pulled up the Night-night gun pointing it at Quinn, who was grinning at me. I cursed myself silently for being snuck up on despite superhearing. Suddenly the gun was ripped from my hand as the man from the train suddenly appeared behind me. I cursed again, what was with me lately! I may not have appreciated Hydra's training methods, but they had certainly trained me better than this!

I glared as the man grabbed me by the throat and held the gun to my head.

"Skye. The Clairvoyant told me to expect you." I struggled in the man's grip as I tried to launch myself at Quinn. 

"Signor Quinn, this is the same gun as the specs that you gave us," the man holding me said.

"Yeah, you guys have been looking at us while we've been looking at you." He tapped the gun to highlight his point. "And we found a handful of particularly interesting things."

I watched angrily as Quinn went to the head of the chamber and twisted the lock. As he did so, Train Guy as I decided to call him released me with a shove and went to stand near Quinn. I watched nervously as Mike was pulled put and started waking up.

“Mike,” I said, taking a step nearer. He grunted a bit as he sat up. “Oh, God. You're alive!” I said with relief.

“That's right, you two know each other,” Quinn commented as he clapped Mike on the shoulder. “Hey. Do you know who I am?”

I watched Mike nod his head.

“And you have your orders?” Orders, what orders? What is going on?

Mike nodded again as I looked on in confusion.

“Good, because I purchased something that's gonna help you complete them.”

Quinn walked to the Train Guy and took the Night-night gun out of his hand. I stepped back quickly as he proceeded to point the gun at me while Train Guy went over to the package. I kept an eye on Quinn; considering he had a fun pointed at me, but I turned my main focus towards Mike.

“Orders? Mike. What is happening here?”

Mike looked over at me but said nothing.

“Mike?” I repeated. 

The man from the train turned from the open package and I saw that he had some sort of big bowl like device in his hands. There were lines of energy running along the inside of the "bowl". What the hell is that thing? 

My eyes opened wide as I observed Mike taking the device and placing it on the stump of his missing leg. Train Guy then twisted the device and we heard a loud whirring sound.

“Stand, please,” Train Guy instructed.

Mike stood on his leg using his arm on the table to steady himself while Train Guy punched a bunch of buttons inside the package. Mike let out a yell of pain as the whirring increased and I grimaced as I imagined how much pain Mike must be in. Speaking as someone who had previously experienced the pain of losing a limb and having it grow back, I could relate. 

We all watched on as the “bowl" suddenly spread out along his thigh, going up to his hip and eventually extending out to form a newly completed leg.

“Mancini, thank you,” Quinn said as he handed the gun back to Train Guy as I made a mental note to remember Train Guy’s name. “You will be receiving your payment shortly.”

Mancini exited and Quinn walked over to Mike and tapped his leg.

“That is the best money can buy, my friend. Every piece of technology in you is top-of-the-line. I just wonder if I'm getting my money's worth. I know you get your orders from the Clairvoyant, so that means you're not allowed to hurt me, right?” What? Since when is Mike under the Clairvoyant’s control? My brows furrowed as I tried to wrap my mind around this new piece of information. Was he willingly working for the Clairvoyant? Or did they have something on him?

“No,” Quinn answered for himself with a grin. He pulled out a small handgun and held it. “What if I tried to hurt you?” He cocked the gun and pointed it at Mike. “Would you stop me?”

I shifted on my feet, not liking where this was going. 

Mike looked down at the gun then up to Quinn.

“No. I would not.”

“Mike, listen. I do not know what they're doing to you but we have to get out of here. Now!” I exclaimed desperately.

Mike looked at me but his face was blank. Quinn picked up Mike's hand and put the gun in it.

“And...if I wanted you to – to hurt her...” He pulled Mike's arm up pointing the gun at me. I gulped nervously as I forced my body to remain motionless, not wanting Quinn to see how scared I was. I briefly closed my eyes as I tried to calm myself with the knowledge that as bad as Quinn was, he couldn’t possible be any worse then any of the Hydra men I had dealt with in the past. Right?...

”You know, kill...will you? I mean, what would hurt Agent Coulson more than to lose his pet project?” I glared at Quinn as he smiled at me; knowing he had offended me with his pet comment.

I glanced over at Mike worriedly, unsure of his answer. It was slightly reassuring to see that he looked to be barely holding in his anger though, since at the very least, that meant he wasn’t thrilled by the suggestion. 

”Those aren't my orders,” he said stonily. 

Quinn looked at him sharply as Mike lowered the gun and pressed it against Quinn's chest. 

“She's not who I'm supposed to kill.” While I was pleased that Mike wasn’t going to kill me, his words worried me greatly. If not me, then who is he here to kill?!

Mike walked out of the room and I darted after him. What the hell, is he seriously about to leave me alone with this maniac?!

”Wait. Wait. Wait!” I cried out. My words fell on deaf ears though as he headed out the door. I stopped in the doorway and looked at Quinn suspiciously before deciding for some crazy reason to walk back in to the room rather than taking the chance to escape.

“What the hell did you do to him?” I hissed at the man before me - more worried about Mike then myself at the moment.

A gunshot echoed throughout the room as I stepped towards him; freezing me in my tracks as I clutched my abdomen in shock. 

I looked up at Quinn in surprise as he stood looking at me and pointing the gun. I gasped slightly as my blood started to flow in and around my hand. 

I gasped again as Quinn came in closer to me and wrapped his arm around my body as I started to fall.

“Shh, shh,” he said tenderly as I shuddered and gasped once more as a second gunshot went off. 

He gently cradled my head and lowered me to the ground, stroking the side of my face as he did so. I glared at him as I fought for breath; blood filling my mouth.

“I'm sorry,” Quinn whispered as he took a handkerchief out of his pocket and wiped down the gun. “But I have my orders, too.” 

He started to get back to his feet but suddenly paused. “It’d be a shame to let such a beauty go to waste though...” I managed to hear him mumble to himself. I coughed as I struggled to back away from him, recognizing the gleam in his eyes and the tone of his voice. Not again...

I closed my eyes as Quinn reached down to unbutton his slacks. This wasn’t going to end well for me, nor would it be painless; as evident from the searing agony that already was flowing through me. I mentally double checked that my magical blocks were still in place so that at the very least, I could die knowing that Tony, Steve, Natasha, and Clint wouldn’t be dragged along for the ride. I had realized recently that they could feel what I felt and I could feel what they were. It still confused me how and why they had been able to in the first place - but figured it was yet another negative side affect of my powers. 

As Quinn removed my shoes, quickly followed by my pants, I tried to focus on something else to distract myself. My thoughts gravitated towards Tony, Steve, Natasha, and Clint. They had made me laugh harder then I ever had when I called them all up and ran my tests with them on the phone while I had tested to make sure my blocks worked properly. When I noticed that they seemed to know how I was feeling and vice versa it had worried me since I didn’t want them to be in any pain just because I was! 

Tony had cracked me up as he spent the entire time grumbling and questioning everything - but in his defense, he was the only one who didn’t know it was me on the other end of the call. I had pretended to be someone from his company’s IT department; not wanting to reveal myself to him just yet.

I tried to picture their faces, but as Quinn lowered himself down on top of me I couldn’t help but wince as his weight put pressure on my wounds. 

Since I was no longer able to keep my mind on happier thoughts, I concentrated on what the best course of action should be moving forward. The Clairvoyant needed to be stopped but the only way we were going to catch him was if we figured out what his end game was. 

A plan started formulating in my mind as Quinn finished up and finally left the room. 

I gasped in relief once he was gone and lifted my head a bit to look down at my stomach. I tried to sit up but could not manage it, so instead, I did my best to drag myself slowly across the floor and towards the door, leaving a heavy trail of blood behind me.

It took me a while but I finally reached it and managed to open it a crack. Through the crack I was able to hear the faint sound of Coulson’s voice and shuddered in relief as my vision began to swim.

********************************************

Coulson’s POV

I was busy kicking the crap out of Quinn - which gave me immense joy to do, but as I shoved him down against a table I noticed his blood spattered hands. I picked him back up and placed the barrel of my gun under Quinn's chin.

“Where's Skye?” I growled angrily.

“You know, Agent Coulson, it's dangerous...to keep sending her in like that, all alone...when she means so much to you.”

He had a grin on his face which I hit away with the butt of my gun before letting Ward slam him back on the table.

“Search the house. Find her! Now!” I exclaimed frantically.

Fitz-Simmons hurried up the stairs as Ward and I went in separate directions; leaving May to stay behind with Quinn.

I yanked open the door to what looked like the wine cellar and gasped as I spotted Skye, looking very pale with a lot of blood around her, sitting by the door.

“Ohh. No. Oh, no. Oh, God. Simmons! Get down here!” I called out, gently moving Skye and cradling her body against mine as I looked her over. 

“Oh. Oh, God. Hang on. Just hang on, okay?”

I froze as I suddenly noticed that she wasn’t wearing her shoes...or her pants...they were scattered around the room. 

“Skye...did Quinn...” I couldn’t get the question out but she must have seen where I was looking and what I was asking because she shuddered as she nodded her head slowly. I’m gonna kill him I thought furiously.

She was clearly fading fast, so I was surprised when she managed to grasp my arm and pull me towards her.

“Coulson, I’m g-going to d-die” she struggled to say, coughing several times to clear her throat.

“No, no you’re not!” I declared.

She rolled her eyes and repeated herself. 

“I’m going t-to die, but I’ll heal within a day or two once the bullets are removed...b-but d-don’t remove them!”

“What?!” I exclaimed not quite sure what she was getting at.

“Q-Quinn said he h-had orders t-to s-shoot me, I think the Clairvoyant w-wanted this to happen,” she mumbled.

“But why?!” I asked, bewildered and confused.

“I d-don’t k-know but I t-think it has something to d-do with you and how you died and were brought back. T-that’s what you said Raina and Po were asking questions about, r-right? I d-don’t think he knows that I c-can heal on my own, so whatever you do, don’t let Fitz or Simmons take the bullets o-out, not until we figure out who the Clairvoyant is...let him th-think he has the upper h-hand!” I listened wide eyed as she struggled to explain her plan. 

It made sense, but I couldn’t wrap my head around the idea of letting her suffer like that. Some of my thoughts must have been written on my face because the next thing I knew she was comforting me and telling me she could handle it and how she had been through much worse, which after having looked at her Hydra files, I knew to be true, but still...

“J-just d-dont let Simmons ex-experi-experiment on me!” she gasped out.

I looked up when Ward entered the room, quickly followed by Fitz-Simmons. Simmons hurried around to the other side of Skye.

“She's been shot!” I informed her as I fearfully watched as Skye’s eyes closed.

“Keep her upright,” Simmons instructed as she checked her out all over. 

“I got no pulse,” I called out anxiously as I noticed everyone in the room spot Skye’s lack of dress and reach the same conclusion that I had. Ward clenched his jaw and looked like he was about to punch the wall and Fit-Simmons looked appalled, but I needed my team focused.

“Uh...she's lost too much blood. I don't...” Simmons started to say, until she spotted some sort of chamber that was in the room. “Put her in there!” She shouted.

“Do you even know what that thing is?” Ward asked.

“It's a hyperbaric chamber, and I said put her in there, now!”

“Okay,” May said as she entered the room. Fitz, Ward, and I worked together to lift Skye’s frail body up and into the chamber.

“All right, come on,” said Ward.

“All right, gentle,” Simmons warned. “I need to get her temperature down. Fitz,” she added as we laid Skye down.

“Yeah, I got it, I got it.”

I watched nervously as Simmons slid the table in as Fitz worked at the controls; inputing directions to the terminal on the chamber.

“Temperature's dropping,” he informed us.

“Pressure's stabilizing,” added Simmons, hurrying to the window and looking in.

“Is it working?” asked May.

There appeared to be no change in Skye as we looked at her.

“Is it working?!?” I repeated May’s question, unable to mask the panic in my voice.

We stared at Skye, whose lips suddenly parted as she took a breath.

“For now,” Simmons said with a sigh of relief.

********************************************

Author’s Note

Let me know what y’all thought of this latest chapter! Hope I explained well enough the whole her blocking her soulmates from being able to sense her pain since I have plans for later on in the story that involve them feeling her die for the “first time” so yeah. And def wanna clarify again that if anyone has any requests for additional soulmates to just let me know; thor and loki are a definite already but dont come in till later and then still figuring out the rest so suggestions are welcome!


	23. TAHITI

3rd Person POV

"Finally. I was beginning to think you'd forgotten –" Quinn said as the door to his holding cell opened to reveal a pissed off May.

The rest of his words were cut off when May shoved his face into the table. She then yanked the chair out from under him sending him to the floor.

"Wait! You can't!" Quinn cried out like an idiot.

May bent down and grabbed a hold of him.

"Why? Because you're defenseless, like she was?" she hissed out angrily.

She then went about punching his face, repeatedly – at least until Coulson and Ward entered.

"May! May!" Coulson exclaimed.

She stopped and looked over at Coulson as Quinn wiped the blood away from under his nose.

"Outside, now," Coulson ordered.

********************************************

"So...she's still alive?"

"Yeah. And you better hope she stays that way." Agent Garret commented as he and Coulson interrogated Quinn.

"Is that why you shot Skye? Because she saw what Cybertek delivered?" Coulson asked.

"No. I shot Skye because that's what the Clairvoyant told me to do."

"What I find surprising is how a big shot billionaire could fall for this psychic mumbo jumbo," Garret said.

"Oh, I doubted it at the beginning, but then I realized it would be mutually beneficial."

"He must have something pretty terrible on you. Shooting an unarmed girl?" Coulson hissed.

"Let's just say I learned the hard way that obeying was in my best interest."

Coulson sighed angrily as the interrogation proceeded and he realized that Skye was right when she had told him that her shooting was all about him.

"Wait. You don't know what Shield did to save you?" Garret inquired after Coulson had explained how he had died. "So shooting the girl forces you to either figure it all out –"

"So the Clairvoyant can finally see," Quinn interjected.

"Or you let the girl die," Garret finished for him.

Coulson nodded his head as he sighed with regret. He felt horrible that his situation had lead to Skye being shot; and that their new plan to catch the Clairvoyant involved her having to suffer unnecessarily while they tried to chase down a solution that she did not even need.

********************************************

Skye started to flat line again and Simmons and Trip started to act. May spoke to Fitz as she left the pod for the cockpit.

"Fitz, come in. What's your status?"

"We found it," he replied. Rushing back to the plane and holding the vial out to Simmons, who didn't take it. Ward walked in behind Fitz.

"What is it? And how much, injected where?" Simmons asked.

"No! Don't give it to her!" Coulson shouted as he rushed in just a moment too late.

Simmons looked up at him with tears in her eyes, it was too late. There was still the tone of her flat lining in the background as Ward and the others looked on helpless. Coulson, knowing the real reason; quickly grabbed a pair of tweezers and while no one was looking dug out the two bullets.

"I was losing her anyway, what harm can it do?" said Simmons.

They all turned to look at Skye.

"Come on, girl," Trip said.

Suddenly things on the monitor went from red to green as her heartbeat picked up the pace. Coulson faked a look of surprise on his face S he turned and looked at Simmons. He was scared of what effect the alien blood would have on her but happy to see her healing.

"It's working," commented Garret.

Simmons smiled and looked down at Skye, who was still for a moment then suddenly took in a big deep gasping breath as her back arched. The monitors suddenly go back to red again as her stats went too high.

"She's spiking!" May exclaimed.

Her back arched higher as she gasped for breath even with the tube in, Simmons did nothing more then put a comforting hand on Skye's forehead.

"Stop it! How can we stop it? Skye!" Ward cried out. 

"What's happening?" asked Coulson worried that the vial had somehow interrupted with Skye's healing abilities.

Simmons looked at him with tears and shook her head.

"I don't know."

"Skye!" Ward shouted. He couldn't handle watching the girl he was starting to love die before her time.

"Do something! We have to do something!" Fitz cried.

Skye went tense all over as she continued to gasp for breath. Suddenly she fell down limp to the mattress and the monitor beeping slowed back down.

"Her heartbeat, she's stabilizing!" Simmons stated.

Everyone looked around relieved as Coulson looked to Simmons.

"Simmons?"

Simmons gave him a smile and nodded, Ward looked at them confused.

"Could someone tell me what we just saw?"

"The girl's a fighter," Trip commented. "What was that stuff you just gave her?" he added.

Simmons looked up at Coulson unsure what to say, from his expression he wasn't sure what she should say either.

"I don't know. All I know is it worked."

********************************************

"I've got good news and bad news. Which would you like to hear first?" Garret said.

Trip closed the door as Quinn said nothing. Garrett looked over to Trip who raised his eyebrows.

"Bad news, then. There's a fair amount. Your Clairvoyant, the one who said he'd have your back, he's a no-show. The site we were supposed to lead him to with our minds, blown to pieces - buried under 100 feet of rock. It seems the only psychic power your buddy has shown is the ability to predict if you tell a rich, entitled dirtbag he's gonna get away with murder, he'll believe it. Trip."

Quinn looked over to him as Trip came and uncuffed him from the table.

"Girl's gonna live. Live to testify how a billionaire shot her point-blank in the stomach."

He turned and pointes to a camera in the corner of the room. 

"Oh, we've got a great little home movie of you admitting that, genius."

Trip got him unlocked and stood him up.

"This Clairvoyant played you and left you to rot."

"You said there was good news."

"I did? Oh, yeah. You still have your tongue."

Quinn scoffed as Trip pulled him out of the room.

********************************************

"You did the impossible today. You saved Skye's life." Coulson raised a brow at her, knowing that she knew that Skye could have healed herself at anytime.

She walked to his desk and leaned against it on her fists.

"Why aren't you happy about it?"

He cast his eyes down away from her and she let out a deep sigh. She sat in the chair across from him.

"They told me you were yelling to not use the drug, to not use it on Skye. Why? What made you change your mind? Phil? Phil? You all right?"

"Being down there...seeing where I came from, I just got really scared that she would suffer the way that I did. But she didn't."

He gave her half a smile.

"For whatever reason, she didn't."

********************************************

Skye's POV

I laid in bed bored out of my mind. I was happy that the bullets were finally out of my body and I was healing, that's for sure, but with Simmons constantly running around and hovering over me; I was in a constant state of worry. She had been trying to run test after test and not only was she making me worried that she would find something but also reminding me of Hydra's scientists. 

I sighed heavily and then looked around and started to take the cover off of my body. I got to my feet off the side of the bed and sat upright stretching. I was about to stand when Simmons appeared at the window of my pod tapping on the glass.

"No! What did I say?" she admonished.

I sighed deeply.

"Damn it. Every time!" I whispered under my breath. I was going stir crazy in this pod. If that wasn't bad enough, I had received a brief visit from Ward's former SO, John Garret; who had stopped by to see me while on his way out with Ian Quinn. Something about the man and the way he looked at me screamed Hydra. 

My suspicions must have shown on my face because he had brought his face inches from my own and calmly threatened to kill everyone on the plane if I so much as breathed a word to anyone. He made it quite clear that he knew I had been faking my injuries the entire time he and Coulson had been looking into the Guest House but had played along. At that point I had realized the he must have been the Clairvoyant all along, but couldn't figure out how the hell I was supposed to bring him down. The man knew more about me than I did and was a high ranking member of both Shield and Hydra! 

I couldn't go back to Hydra! I was not going to let that happen! 

Simmons opened the door and entered while my mind was elsewhere.

"It's like you have a sensor for whenever my butt lifts off the bed," I told her in frustration.

"Back in it," she demanded.

"I just want to stretch my legs!" I huffed.

"Now," she ordered.

"Look!" I pointed out as I lightly smacked myself on the cheeks. "There's color in my cheeks."

Simmons stood next to me and gently pushed me back down onto the bed.

"Breathing without..." I started to say, trying not to let her hear the strain in my voice as I shifted deeper into the bed. "...feeling like my whole body's on fire. I'm good," I tried to tell her. 

Simmons chuckled as she held up the blanket for me to put my feet back under.

"Good" is not the appropriate word to describe your state."

I got back under the covers and Simmons moved them back up to my stomach.

"You've been shot twice, had your stomach perforated, and a breathing tube shoved down your throat. "Better" is a more accurate word." I rolled my eyes but kept my mouth shut. She did not need to know that I had recovered much faster from injuries worse than this.

Simmons put a vial into a port on my arm drawing out some blood.

"Again with the blood drive? I'm not gonna have anything left," I said, chuckling nervously. Grateful for the hundredth time that Fitz was on my side and had been muddling her test results so that she wouldn't suspect anything.

Simmons smiled at me.

"Not sure how I feel about Dr. Simmons. She's so strict," I commented. 

Simmons smiled again and yanked out the vial of blood a bit too rough.

"Ow, and pokey," I added as I rubbed my arm.

"Well patient Skye is unruly and stubborn," she responded.

I returned her smile with one of my own. "And grateful," I revised.

Simmons looked at me.

"I hope you know that." I may be a little freaked out about her running tests and experimenting on me on top of my new Hydra/Garret concerns but that did not mean I was not appreciative of all that she had been doing for me, even if I could have healed on my own. 

"I didn't do it alone."

"Still, I'm the most..."grateful-est-est" patient alive," I commented.

I laughed and Simmons made a face.

"That's...not even a word."

Ward appeared in the doorway and knocked with a small smile.

"Hey."

Simmons looked at him as I shifted in my bed.

"This a bad time?"

I glanced over at Simmons.

"It is if you're here to bust me out."

When I spoke next I faked a bad version of Simmon's accent.

"The warden has extended house arrest."

Simmons scoffed as I grinned at her.

"Ugh, awful accent," Simmons responded before she walked out as I put my hands to my face and groaned.

"Oh, I must look terrible!" I laughed nervously as I ran my hands through my hair. "Simmons won't even bring me a mirror."

"I've seen worse," Ward said.

"Wow. Thanks," I said, blinking up at him. I smiled as he tried to backtrack.

"No, I mean, you look better than when you were dying."

I smiled bigger at him.

“Swinging and a-missing, Ward.”

He sighed and gave me a sincere smile.

“It's great to see you...better.”

I rolled my eyes and bit my lower lip.

“It was so stupid to go in there alone.”

“Hey. There's no point in doing that now.”

Ward took a couple of steps in and sat in the chair next to my bed.

“You were brave. Thanks to you, every Shield agent in the country knows Mike Peterson's alive.”

“You tell them about his magic leg?”

“I didn't call it that, but yes. Agent Garrett's running point on Mike. Thinks he's part of some project called Deathlok.”

“He looked like death. You should have...he wouldn't even look at me. They did something to him. He needs help.”

Ward got upset at this.

“He's past help. He was there with you, Skye – could have protected you. He let this happen to you. And I'll never forgive that.”

“Well, I –I need to better protect myself...Ward, can I ask you something?”

“Yeah, of course, what’s up?”

“Um, how well do you know agent Garret?” I gazed at Ward’s face as his eyebrows rose.

“He was my SO...so fairly well, why?”

“Well, he, he um...” I opened and closed my mouth several times as I tried to find the right words. “He’s Hydra, Ward.”

Ward’s eyes widened as he chuckled nervously.

“Those meds Simmons has you on must be stronger than I thought. 

“Be serious, Ward!” I said, sitting up and staring at him. 

Before I could say anything else, however, Ward had leaned forward and kissed me. I blinked rapidly as his lips pressed against mine, not quite sure what was happening. Ward was handsome, don’t get me wrong, but something about this felt wrong.

I gently pushed against his chest and leaned back.

“Ward, w-what was that for?!” 

“I, love you, Skye,” he replied, leaning in to kiss me again. 

I pulled back and stared at him in confusion. 

“No you don’t! You can’t mean that! Why would you -” I paused as a horrible thought flashed through my mind. Was he trying to distract me? And if so, the only reason he would want to do that, would be because he was Hydra too! 

I hopped out of the bed and grabbed a nearby scalpel and held it in front of me.

“Skye! Calm down. Put the scalpel down,” Ward said, slowly stalking towards me.

“You’re Hydra. What the hell!” 

My heart broke as I realized I had been duped yet again. 

“Skye, your not thinking straight. Come sit back down,” Ward said quietly.

I backed up as my mind raced. No way was I going back, but I didn’t want to just leave my team without warning them. Garret had made it clear that I couldn’t come right out and tell them so I had to find a quick way to warn them that wouldn’t be noticed before getting myself as far away from Ward and Garret as possible. 

I felt the wall press against me as Ward took another step towards me. I quickly put my hands behind my back and started scratching words into the wall, leaving a small message warning my team that Ward and Garret were Hydra. 

Then I ducked under Ward’s outstretched arm and tried to make my way to the door of the pod, grabbing a bag along my way. I had just reached the door when I felt myself being yanked backwards. 

I dodged Ward’s punches and weaved around him, no longer worried about pretending to be weak. 

“I’m not going back!” I shouted at him.

“What are you talking about?”

I doubted that Ward knew about my situation; otherwise he would have recognized me when I first met him but I couldn’t think about anything right now other than the fact that he was Hydra.

I kicked him down and raced out of the pod and ran to my room; stuffing whatever I could reach into the bag before making my way to the back of the plane. I slammed my palm against the button to lower the ramp right as Ward found me again.

“Skye!” He called out as I unfurled my wings and let myself fall backwards. The last thing I saw was the look of surprise on his face before the wind rushed up to greet me.

********************************************

Author’s Note

Hey everyone let me know what you thought! I basically condensed a lot of stuff/mashed a few parts to make it easier for Skye to get herself off the plane and back in LA where I’mma have her be for when the avenger stuff really starts off. And I haven’t decided about other characters but i think im def gonna add lucifer in bc it just makes sense since he owns a night club in la and she’s gonna be looking for work again. But yeah excited to be done with the agents of shield stuff for now! I might add them in for when i figure out how im going to put skye’s heritage in but wanted to get the battle of new york in first.


	24. New Life - Take 3

Skye's POV

I was on my way to "Nights" to see if I could get my old job back, when I passed by another club that had a huge line. I looked it over and shivered as a weird tingling sensation passed over one of my scars. I ignored it but turned my feet towards the club. The bright neon sign outside it said "Lux". 

I sighed as I glanced at the line. I didn't have time to waste standing outside when I didn't need to be, so I snuck around back and made my way into the club without anyone noticing.

My ears were immediately bombarded with the sound of loud heavy club music and I grimaced as I pushed my way through the packed crowd and towards the bar. 

As packed as the place was though, I had to admit that I liked it more than "Nights". As I approached the bar, the loud music suddenly turned off and the sound of a piano filled the room. I smiled at this as I glanced over to see a piano being played in the middle of the room. I did a double take as I suddenly caught a glimpse of the man sitting at the piano. Even from this distance, I could tell that he was incredibly handsome. 

I scratched one of my scars as I quickly turned back around and faced the girl behind the bar. She was a gorgeous dark skinned beauty that screamed danger. I kind of liked that. I wish I was able to give off a similar vibe. It would make my life so much easier.

"What can I get you?" She asked.

"I'll take a cranberry vodka and a job" I said with a smile and a wink. Hoping that my nervousness wasn't showing through my bravado. 

She laughed loudly as she went to go make my drink.

"You got any experience?" she asked as she slid me my drink.

"I worked at the club "Nights" for about six months as their bartender," I said with a shrug. 

She opened her mouth to ask me another question, but before she could get a word out, there was a tug on my arm.

"Hey there, sexy, whatdya say I buy you a drink and we take the party back to my place afterwards?" I scrunched up my nose at the guy before me.

"Thanks, but no thanks, I've already got a drink," I said raising my glass and turning back around to face the bar. The drunk idiot would not take no for an answer and here I was trying to give a good impression. I turned around incredibly frustrated and punched the guy under the jaw, knocking him backwards. I held off at the last minute, forcing myself to not use so much force that he was left unconscious but only dazed, and he stumbled backwards into the crowd and disappeared. 

"I'm so sorry about that! I hope the owner doesn't get upset about that," I exclaimed as I turned around to face the bartender again.

"Don't worry, he's not," said a man's voice from behind me. I spun around and collided with a hard chest. 

"Woah, there sweetheart," a deep voice whispered huskily as I was caught and steadied on my feet. 

"Sorry," I mumbled as I glanced down at my feet, trying to hide my embarrassment. 

"No worries, have we met before? You seem familiar, but I definitely would remember having slept with someone as beautiful as you," the voice said.

I blushed a brilliant shade of red as my eyes darted up and my head shook frantically.

"No, no, definitely not!" I declared. "This is my first time here," I added.

"Well, I hope that drunkard didn't spoil your impression of my place," the man said, raising his arms and spinning around.

"Wait, this is your place? You're the owner?" I asked in surprise.

"Yup!"

"Well even better! I, um; was asking your bartender but I guess I can ask you as well. I just arrived in town and was looking for a job," I said, trying to keep my eyes from wandering too much as I stared at the incredibly handsome man before me.

"Yeah sure, but you have to answer a question first," he replied.

I nodded and gulped heavily as the owner suddenly stepped in close to me and looked me in the eyes.

"Tell me, what do you desire more than anything else in this life," he said, his voice getting all husky and deep again. I shivered as one of my scars burned again and squirmed under the intensity of his gaze.

"Um...I, well..." I tilted my head as I paused and tried to think about my answer. "You know, I honestly have no clue," I said.

"Oh, come on, there must be something you desire," he said with a smirk as he stepped even closer.

"Nope, nothing that I can think of," I said. The man frowned. 

"Are you sure?" He prompted again. 

I nodded.

"Hmm, why didn't that work on you? Did my father send you?" 

I was about to tell him that I had no idea who his father was but just then our arms brushed against each other and I felt a jolt of electricity shoot up my arm. I jerked back.

"What the hell was that?!" I exclaimed as I backed up.

"I...you..." the man started to say looking at me with shock in his eyes.

Suddenly I spotted a familiar face in the crowd.

"Oh, hell, I have to go!" I said, keeping one eye on the Hydra guard as I looked up at the owner.

"What? Why?! I haven't even gotten your name."

"I'm so sorry, it's Skye. I would love to stick around and chat but unfortunately there's someone I'd rather avoid and I can't afford to be spotted,” I rambled, surprising myself with how open I was with my answer.

"In that case, I have the perfect hiding spot for you," the man said. "And the name is Lucifer, by the way. Lucifer Morningstar."

"What, like the devil?" I asked with a chuckle as I reluctantly let him lead me towards an elevator. 

"Yup," he said with a devilish grin. I smirked. The irony of the situation was not lost on me. But despite what everyone kept saying, I didn't feel very angelic even if I did have wings...

"You live above your club?" I asked in surprise as the elevator opened up to a luxurious suite with a gorgeous piano and a fully stocked minibar. 

"It's convenient," Lucifer said with a shrug. "Do you mind if I change quickly? Been wearing this suit all day."

I nodded as I made my way towards the piano and sat down. I ran my fingers across the white tiles and paused before starting to play. (Why Don’t I, by Sofia Carson)

 

Lucifer’s POV

The minute the girl walked into my club I sensed it. Magic leaked off her body like nothing I had ever felt before. I watched curiously as she made her way towards the bar. 

I paused the music and sat and played the piano, all the while, keeping an eye on this mystery girl. I growled under my breath as I watched one of the drunks in the place walk up to her. It was clear that he wasn’t taking no for an answer. I stood up and quickly made my way over. Before I could do anything though, she had turned around and punched him, sending him back into the crowd, dazed and confused. I grinned.

"I'm so sorry about that! I hope the owner doesn't get upset about that," I heard her exclaim. 

"Don't worry, he's not," I cut in with a chuckle. She spun around and collided with my chest. 

"Woah, there sweetheart," I said as I caught and steadied her on her feet.

"Sorry," she mumbled, glancing down at her feet, trying to hide her embarrassment. I wished she wouldn’t though. She was gorgeous. 

"No worries, have we met before? You seem familiar, but I definitely would remember having slept with someone as beautiful as you," I told her, enjoying the sight of her blushing madly as she shook her head frantically.

"No, no, definitely not!" she declared. "This is my first time here," she added.

"Well, I hope that drunkard didn't spoil your impression of my place," I replied, raising my arms and spinning around.

"Wait, this is your place? You're the owner?" she asked in surprise.

"Yup!"

"Well even better! I, um; was asking your bartender but I guess I can ask you as well. I just arrived in town and was looking for a job," she said. 

"Yeah sure, but you have to answer a question first," I declared. My curiosity with the girl growing with every passing second. The power she was giving off was so intense it was causing the hair on my arms to stand up.

I stepped in closer as she nodded her agreement.

"Tell me, what do you desire more than anything else in this life," I asked, using my own powers as I gazed into her eyes.

"Um...I, well..." I watched her tilt her head to the side as she paused to think. "You know, I honestly have no clue," she finished.

"Oh, come on, there must be something you desire," I said with a smirk as I stepped even closer.

"Nope, nothing that I can think of," she repeated. I frowned. 

"Are you sure?" I prompted again. 

She nodded.

"Hmm, why didn't that work on you? Did my father send you?" This beautiful woman was too good not to be some sort of trick.

Just then our arms brushed against each other and I felt a jolt of electricity shoot up my arm. I jerked back. Soulmate my body screamed to my brain. 

"What the hell was that?!" she exclaimed, backing up. Well, well, well. This explained why she was immune to my power, she was my soulmate, and what a sexy soulmate she was!

"I...you..." I started to say looking at her in shock, at a loss for words.

"Oh, hell, I have to go!" she said, her eyes spotting something behind me. I felt a sense of panic rise within me. She couldn’t leave yet! I’d just met her!

"What? Why?! I haven't even gotten your name!” I stated.

"I'm so sorry, it's Skye. I would love to stick around and chat but unfortunately there's someone I'd rather avoid and I can’t afford to be spotted,” she rambled. I frowned, not liking the sound of this.

"In that case, I have the perfect hiding spot for you," I said, desperate to keep her from leaving just yet. “And the name is Lucifer, by the way. Lucifer Morningstar."

"What, like the devil?" she asked with a chuckle as I lead her towards the elevator. 

"Yup," I said with a devilish grin. 

"You live above your club?" Skye asked in surprise as the elevator opened up to reveal my suite.

"It's convenient," I said with a shrug. "Do you mind if I change quickly? Been wearing this suit all day,” I didn’t want my soulmate seeing me wear this crabby old thing! I needed to find something much more impressive.

She nodded and I darted off to my room and walked up to my wardrobe scanning desperately for something to wear.

As I did so, I heard the piano being played. A few seconds later the most beautiful voice started singing. Hurried to change into one of my fanciest suits as I tried not to get distracted by Skye’s voice. Once I was finished, I stepped back into the living room and stared at the girl before me as she continued to sing. 

********************************************

Author’s Note

Let me know what you think of this latest chapter! Coulson is gonna be coming back in the next one to recruit her for the avenger’s initiative so super psyched to get started on that!


	25. Hello, Goodbye

Skye's POV

I sighed as I finished the song. The last notes reverberated around the room as I lifted my hands off of the keys.

I spun around in my seat as the sound of clapping brought me back to reality.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I hope it's okay that I was playing? Just always wanted to try it at least once,” I said nervously fiddling with my hands. I'd never let anyone hear me sing before; in fact, I couldn't remember ever having sung out loud let alone played the piano! Definitely not something that had been a possibility growing up under Hydra's control. I can’t imagine I sounded anywhere near decent...

“No need to apologize, sweetheart. You have a beautiful voice!” 

“Oh, please. No need to lie!” I said with a nervous chuckle.

“The devil doesn’t lie, gorgeous,” he replied with a wink as he went to join me on the piano bench.

“Ok, let’s say I believe this whole, “you’re the devil” thing; which I guess would not be the strangest thing I’ve found out was real, but isn’t that what the Devil is all about? Lies and deception or whatever? I don’t mean to sound inconsiderate and uninformed or anything but I only know what I’ve read up on recently...” I trailed off, biting my lip as I realized I was starting to ramble big time.

“No harm done, sweetness. It’s a common misconception. I just bring out people’s deepest desires - I have nothing to do with whether or not they decide to act on them,” he told me, leaning in to tuck a loose strand of hair behind my ear. As he did so, I felt another spark of electricity flare throughout my body and tried to hold back a shiver as I bit my lip again. 

“But speaking of desires, what do you desire more than anything else?” he repeated. 

“Not this again, I told you, I don’t know!” I said, shaking my head. I decided to change the subject.

“I thought you were going to change?” I said as I looked him over. It looked like he had, but not into anything comfortable, just another suit. 

“I did! Do you not like it?” The last part he said with a hint of hesitancy and I suddenly felt bad.

“No, no! It’s a very nice suit! I just don’t see why you changed out of your suit only to put on another one?” I said tilting my head to look at him.

He opened his mouth to respond, but before he got the chance, we heard the chiming sound of the elevator.

“Are you expecting someone?” I asked fearfully as I remembered the Hydra guard I had spotted downstairs.

“No,” he answered standing up and walking over towards the elevator.

As soon as his back was turned, I dove behind the couch. I mentally scolded myself for acting cowardly, but was overpowered by my determination not to be recaptured.

“Who are you and what are you doing here?” I heard Lucifer demand to know.

“That’s not important. Where is Skye?” 

“No idea who you are talking about, now please leave before I have you escorted out,” Lucifer said calmly. I paused as I recognized the voice.

“Phil?” I asked as I stood up and faced the elevator in surprise. “What are you doing here?!” Better yet, how did he find me?

“Skye! Are you okay?” Coulson asked worriedly.

“Yeah, why?” I answered, confused. 

Coulson strode right past a bewildered looking Lucifer to join me by the couch.

“Thank god you’re safe!” He said in relief.

“No need to bring my father into this,” Lucifer commented snippily. Coulson raised a brow at this but I shook my head and mouthed “later” to him.

“What’s wrong, Phil? And how did you find me?” I asked quietly.

“I intercepted a Hydra message informing command that a guard had spotted you here.”

I silently cursed as my suspicions were confirmed. 

“That isn’t all though is it...” I said. Coulson had a troubled look on his face; one I had never seen before. 

“Fury needs you to come in.”

It was my turn to raise my brows, getting the sense that he wasn’t talking about Bus Skye but “Angel”. 

“Fury knows how I feel about joining his “Initiative” or whatever it was called, Phil. I’m not ready. I don’t have enough control! I’d cause more harm than good!” I exclaimed in a heated whisper. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Lucifer staring at the two of us with narrowed eyes. 

“Skye, heroes are made by the path they choose, not the powers they are graced with,” he said as he put an arm on my shoulder. 

“I’m not a hero, Phil...nor was I graced...just experimented on and turned into an abomination,” I told him, shrugging his arm off.

“You are not an abomination, Skye! And sorry to burst your bubble but you already are a hero - my hero. After everything Hydra put you through and yet you are still willing to help strangers like Mike - long before you joined my team. You didn’t have to go back for Tony, Natasha, Clint, and Steve that day you escaped Hydra, yet you did. You chose to rescue a building full of strangers instead of standing by and watching and you didn’t have to stay on the Bus and train to become a Shield Agent. We could really use your help, but in the end it is your decision. Forget about what Fury wants, what do you want, Skye?”

I paused at this. My head trying to wrap itself around what Coulson had just told me. I was his hero? How was that even possible! He was mine! Not to mention he knew a whole slew of national heroes who had done way more than I ever had! I opened and closed my mouth as I contemplated his question. It rang similar to what Lucifer had been asking me all night. 

What did I want. I could just walk away and leave the saving the world business to those more capable, but what if there was a way that I could help? Would I be able to live with myself knowing I could have helped but chose not to?

“I - I want to help...” I said slowly. “I just don’t know how...” It’s not like helping people was very high on Hydra’s priority list...

“You’ve already done so much to help my team and I, I hate to have to ask even more of you but the Avenger team is going to need you on it, Skye. You may not see it now, but you are helping just by agreeing to come with me,” Coulson replied. 

My mind raced as I tried to make a decision.

“Okay, fine. But on one condition,” I finally said.

“Of course, anything,” Coulson said with a sigh of relief.

“I’m still not ready to handle Tony right now, or the others for that matter. I don’t want them to know it’s me.”

“Are you sure that’s wise? Why hide from them? They are not going to like it if they find out you are keeping secrets, Skye! Not to mention, they’ve all seen the clip of you with your wings. It’s not going to be difficult for them to make the connection if they haven’t already.

“We all know Tony’s opinion towards Shield, he’s not exactly shy about it, and even if he wasn’t already upset with me for disappearing on him, from what Steve says, he’s going to be even more upset with Fury and you if he ever finds out I’ve been working for Shield. So it’s actually better for everyone if he doesn’t know. Whatever has caused Fury to call everybody in must be serious. Serious enough that we can’t afford to have unnecessary distractions and emotions getting in the way! And I can’t ever seem to get a grip on my emotions when I’m around Tony, Natasha, Steve, or Clint. I still don’t know why but until I do, it’s a problem. As for the others recognizing me, I don’t have to use my wings. My powers alone should be enough if I can manage to control them well enough...and I’m able to control my appearance now to a certain extent, so that shouldn’t be too much of a problem. The internet says it’s called glamouring or something, but the point is, they never have to know it’s me.”

“I guess that kind of makes sense, I just don’t understand why you are so reluctant to be honest with them, especially considering the connection you have to them.”

“Being open about my powers means the world will know, which means Hydra will know, and the risk of capture aside, I’m not ready for the world to know who I am! And as for the team, I - I’ve never had friends before...least not until recently. I-what if they can’t except me for who I am? I don’t want to lose them! And would someone please tell me what this “connection” is that I keep hearing about?” 

“That’s a conversation for another time, Skye. I can’t say I’m completely onboard with you disguising yourself, but the last thing I want to do is take another choice away from you, so if that is truly how you want to play this out , than so be it.”

“Thank you, that’s means the world to me, Phil.” I told him, as I suddenly remembered something.

“Wait, doesn’t everyone think you are dead? I mean pot, meet kettle...”

Coulson sighed heavily as he nodded. “Natasha, and Clint found out while we were at the Hub, but yes, Fury wants me to take a backseat on this one...”

“AC! I can’t do this without you!” I said, frowning as I began to panic slightly.

“Hey, now. I will always help you Skye! I do not intend to just toss you into this and let you figure things out on your own; It’s just not going to be like the way things are run on the Bus. But I will be on comms with you the entire time!” 

I sighed in relief as my panic subsided slightly. I decided, however, that now was not the time to mention that yet another one of my newfound abilities included telepathy. Like all my other powers, it didn’t work quite the way I would have liked and I often gained far more knowledge from someone’s mind than I wanted but it did make something like comms, unnecessary - assuming I ever gained control of it. Serious, that sentence is becoming a record on a loop - I might as well make it my catch phrase at this point, I thought bitterly as I tried to get my thoughts back on track.

Okay, get a grip, Skye. Focus on one thing at a time.

I headed back over to where Lucifer was standing and looked up at him. 

“So, um, I really really appreciate you helping me out back there and for welcoming me into your place - the last thing I want to do is appear rude or ungrateful - but unfortunately, I have to go...” I said unsure of what to say. 

“What, why?!” Lucifer replied, surprising me with the amount of panic in his voice.

“I can’t get into specifics, but some friends of mine need help,” I said slowly.

“You are leaving me? This is what you desire?” his eyes were wide in shock as he stared down at me.

“Well, no I don’t “desire” to leave you...but I do desperately want to do whatever I can to help my friends...” I answered. For some reason, the broken look on his face was almost physically painful for me to look at and I absentmindedly scratched one of my scars as I tried to distract myself. 

“I can’t say I’m not disappointed, but I’m pleased that my mate’s desire is one so noble. How about I tag along? Another common misconception; the devil actually makes a fabulous assistant,” he said with a wide grin and a wink.

“I’m sure “he” does, but this isn’t something you can be a part of. I promise, I’ll make it up to you when I can, but I really do have to go now.” Before he could say anything else, I turned and pushed the button to open the elevator, keeping it open as Coulson joined me; though he stopped briefly to have a whispered conversation with Lucifer. What the hell are those two talking about? I wondered as I tried to ignore the pain in my chest as I watched Lucifer standing in the middle of the room looking at me with a lost look on his face.

“So where are we headed?” I asked Coulson as the elevator doors closed.

“New york.”

********************************************

In-Line Comments

\- So just to be clear I tossed in a few more powers that Skye has so it’ll make it easier for her to counter Loki’s control when that arrives and to hide herself in plain sight when she’s with the avenger’s.   
\- Also not really sure if I wanted to write it out but basically Coulson heard Lucifer when he called her his mate (though it goes over Skye’s head) so when he talks to him briefly he asks him what he meant - lucifer says she’s his soulmate yada yada, and basically Coulson’s like shit another one? and lucifer is left confused and not sure if Skye has more than one soulmate.   
\- Also Lucifer is gonna end up tracking her down to new york im just not sure if I’m going to have him show up before/during/after the battle so if anyone has any preference or suggestion let me know!   
\- Hope you liked the chapter and that it made sense, felt like i went a bit fast with it but want to get to the good stuff 😂let me know if yall have any clarifying questions tho!


	26. Lexi - Defender of Man (New Life - Take 4)

Skye's POV

I sighed as I stared at my reflection in the motel's bathroom mirror. Coulson and I were making our way to New York as under the radar as possible to avoid the risk of Hydra following us. We had been driving across country for the last few days and were finally almost there but had decided to take a quick stop to get a brief nap in before heading back into the fray.

I had taken the opportunity to work on perfecting my new "persona" and the appearance that would come with it. In order to pull this off, I would have to be flawless with the execution. Otherwise it would cause more drama than I was trying to avoid by going in disguised to begin with.

I had glamoured my skin to look unmarred by the scars that normally covered my body, given myself white hair, and made myself a makeshift "costume". It wasn't anything fancy, just the Mayesque jacket I had, a black crop top, black jeans, and black boots that I had sewn inner pockets into to hold various knives and such. It looked nowhere near as sophisticated as Tony and the other's outfits but hey, I did the best with what I had. 

 

I could probably get Fitz to make me something more sleek once this is all over, I thought as I exited the motel room and hopped into the passenger seat of the new run down car Coulson had just finished hot-wiring. We had been swapping out cars every couple hundred miles or so. 

When Coulson saw my new look, he just shook his head and grinned. 

"I thought you wanted to blend in, not stick out," he commented.

"I stick out no matter what I do, at least the new look doesn't make me look weak and helpless. I just hope I can keep up the attitude to match it..." I added quietly, voicing my biggest concern. With all of my insecurities and emotional issues, I had no idea if I was going to be able to pull off the whole "kick ass" and confident persona.

"You'll do fine, I definitely would not have recognized you if I hadn't already known it was you. Just stay calm and remember your cover."

I nodded as he started up the car, but still felt unsure of myself. The cover was easy enough, Coulson had managed to convince Fury to backup my story that I was a high level Shield Agent who was captured on a mission and experimented on and gained powers - it wasn't exactly a total lie, so I wouldn't have to worry about my horrible deception abilities so long as I continued to stick to half truths whenever possible. 

What was bothering me was whether or not I was making the right choice by pretending to be someone else. But it was the only thing I was trained for and knew how to do. It was easier to be someone else than trying to figure out who I was now that I had the freedom to do so.

********************************************

"Why does it have to be me?!" I said in frustration as we pulled into the parking lot of an all night gym in Brooklyn, New York.

"I'm supposed to be dead, I can't just walk up to the guy without having some serious explaining to do...and something tells me he'll be more agreeable to helping if it comes from you," Coulson gave me a funny look as he finished his explanation. 

"Why? It's not like I'm walking in there as anyone he would recognize!" I countered.

"Just trust me Skye," Coulson said, the weird look still on his face. I rolled my eyes but got out of the car all the same. Guess now is as good a time as any to test my disguise.

I breathed in deeply as I stood before the door to the gym; rolling my shoulders and straightening my back before finally yanking on the handle.

I froze in my steps at the panty dropping sight that met me as soon as I crossed the threshold. 

There in front of me in all his wonderfully shirtless glory was Steve. My face and neck suddenly felt extremely hot as my gaze was directed towards the rippling of torso muscles as I observed the man punching the bag next to him. 

I swallowed the lump that was developing in my throat as I attempted to stop my mind from wandering enough to focus on the task at hand. 

"Trouble sleeping?" I commented, my voice thankfully coming out steady as Steve turned around to face me. I watched as his eyes looked me up and down suspiciously; though I think I also detected a brief flicker of attraction - it was probably my imagination wanting to see what wasn't there.

"I slept for 70 years, ma'am," he replied. "I think I've had my fill." I frowned. What is with his determination to call me ma'am! Though in all fairness, he didn't know he knew me.

"Then you should be out, celebrating, seeing the world," I commented; feeling hypocritical for giving him advice that I wasn't taking myself. "And the name is Alexa, but you can call me Lexi," I added; feeling good about the name I had decided to go with. It was the female version of Alexander; which broke down to "defender of man" in greek. I figured it was appropriate for someone who was supposed to be a member of a team of superheroes. 

"Well, Lexi, I went under, the world was at war,  
I wake up, they say we won. They didn't say what we lost." Ok, I could get used to him saying my name like that...focus Lexi, I reprimanded myself as my mind started to wander again.

I didn't know how to respond to his comment, so I stayed quiet, shifting uncomfortably as he continued to look me over.

"You here with a mission, ma'am - sorry, Lexi?" He corrected himself.

"I am," I said with a nod.

"Fury still trying to get me back in the world?" He asked with a hint of bitterness. I mentally rolled my eyes. Clearly I wasn't the only one bothered by Fury's constant recruitment efforts. Yet here I was, doing it for him...

"Trying to save it," I replied. "Hydra's secret weapon. Howard Stark fished that out of the ocean when he was looking for you. He thought what we think, the Tesseract could be the key to unlimited sustainable energy. That's something the world sorely needs," I added, filling Steve in on the situation as I handed him a copy of the files; having read up as much as I could on our drive over. Though personally I think Fury should have left the Tesseract buried.

"Who took it from you?" Steve asked.

"He's called Loki," I replied; my inner geek still amazed by the fact that these myths were real. "He's not from around here," I added. "There's a lot we'll have to bring you up to speed on if you're in. The world has gotten even stranger than you already know." Everything outside of Hydra is strange to me, so what would I know about what people consider normal or not...

"At this point, I doubt anything would surprise me, Lexi," Steve commented confidently. 

"Ten bucks says you're wrong," I said with a wide grin. I stuck out a hand and we shook on it. I shivered as I felt one of my scars burn and silently thanked the gods that I had been given a way to hide them. It was one of the few benefits of my powers.

"There's a debriefing package waiting  
for you back at your apartment," I told Steve, half turning back towards the door, before pausing. "Is there anything you can tell us  
about the Tesseract that we ought to know now?" It felt like something Coulson would ask so I gave it a shot.

"You should have left it in the ocean." Amen to that, I thought as I left the gym and got back in the car.

********************************************

The next morning I grabbed my laptop and sent a quick email to Pepper Potts asking to meet up briefly before I planned to make my way over to Stark Tower, since knowing of Tony's stubbornness, I needed all the help I could get.

She responded immediately and I left Coulson to get a quick breakfast with Tony's "nanny" - her words not mine. I liked the woman the minute I met her and though I was still cautious about keeping my cover, I found myself opening up to her more than I expected.

"You know, Tony isn't going to agree to work with Shield easily."

"Oh, I know, I've got a plan for that," I replied with a smirk before I left to go change back into my "uniform" before heading over to Stark Tower with my laptop in hand.

Getting into Stark Tower was laughably easy and I chuckled as I ducked down one of the corridors; into an empty room, and started typing on my keyboard. 

I hacked my way into JARVIS's system and started sifting around Stark's files. A few minutes later I grinned as I found what I was looking for. I sent the video to my phone before closing my laptop and heading back out into the hallway. 

I punched in Tony's phone number and hit dial as I started making my way to the elevator. As expected, Tony wasn't picking up, so I fiddled around with my phone as I punched the up arrow for the elevator and stepped in.

"Sir, the telephone. I'm afraid my protocols are being overwritten," I overheard JARVIS informing Tony. I smirked at this.

"Stark, we need to talk," I demanded as I looked at my phone to see that he had finally picked up.

"You have reached the life model decoy of Tony Stark, please leave a message," he stated. I rolled my eyes. Who the hell does he think he's fooling.

"This is urgent," I responded.

"Then leave it urgently." 

At that moment the elevator door opened and I stepped out, applauding the perfect timing of my arrival.

"Security breach," Tony said, pointing out the obvious as he turned to Pepper, who was also in the room. "That's on you."

"Mr. Stark," I said as I stood by the elevator.

"Lexi! Come in," Pepper greeted me.

"Pepper, you know her? Who the heck is she?"

"Come on in, we're celebrating," Pepper told me, ignoring Tony.

"Which is why she can't stay. As gorgeous as she may be, I don't mix business with pleasure," he commented as he raked his eyes over me. 

"With a reputation like yours, I highly doubt that, Mr. Stark," I said, rolling my eyes as I strode over to him.

"We need you to look this over." I held out the file for him to take. "Soon as possible."

"I don't like being handed things," he said bitterly. I frowned, remembering what I had read in his file.

"That's alright, 'cause I love to be handed things. So, let's trade," Pepper said as she passed her glass of champagne to me and took the file and handed it off to Tony. I found myself strangely jealous of the fact that she was allowed the privilege of his trust while I was not - but I couldn’t blame the man; even if I wasn’t Lexi; someone he had never met before right now, I still had disappeared on him and refused to talk to him for months...

"Official consulting hours are between eight and five every other Thursday," said Tony as I took a sip of the champaign in my hand.

"This isn't a consultation," I corrected him, fighting the urge to roll my eyes again.

"Is this about The Avengers? Which I...I know nothing about," Pepper amended as she realized she wasn't supposed to know about it. I laughed; liking her even more. 

"The Avengers Initiative was scrapped, I thought. And I didn't even qualify,” Tony said.

“I didn't know that either,” Pepper piped up, not that I believed her one bit.

“Yeah, apparently I'm volatile, self-obsessed, don't play well with others -”

“That I did know,” Pepper chimed in. Damn, I really like her. Under normal circumstances I probably would have tossed my two cents in as well, but now was not the time.

“This isn't about personality profiles anymore,” I said, trying to stay serious and on topic. “We need your help,” I added. I was surprised to see a flicker of emotion cross Tony’s face before it straightened out once more. 

“And if I say no?” 

“Then I upload this lovely video for everyone to see,” I said with an evil grin as I pulled the video I had discovered up on my phone, pressed play, and turned it to face him. It showed a wasted Tony with his suit tie wrapped around his head dancing on a table in only his boxers and singing horribly into his wine bottle as if it were a microphone. 

“”Wha-how, how did you get that...no one could have gotten that unless, unless...JARVIS! You let this woman hack me! ME! Of all people! How could you?!” Tony said indignantly.

“He really didn’t have much of a say in the matter,” I said as I tucked my phone into the back pocket of my pants. 

“Is Fury so desperate that he’s willing to resort to blackmail?” Tony said as he ran a hand through his hair.

“Nope,” I said, popping the p. “But I’m not, I figured it would make things more interesting,” I wiggled my brows as I grinned at him. 

“No one gets away with blackmailing Tony Stark! Even someone with looks like yours, not without oaying the consequences,” Tony said stonily as he stared at me, but something about the way he said the last part had my mind heading in the wrong direction once more.

“Oh, I wouldn’t consider it blackmail seeing as I might still upload the video even if you do say yes. I mean, I would hate to be the one to deprive the world of such fantastic entertainment,” I smirked. Being Lexi is more fun than I thought, I admitted to myself, enjoying the expression on Tony’s face. 

“You wouldn’t dare,” Tony said with wide eyes.

“Oh, yes, I would, Mr. Stark. Even the all-mighty Tony must learn to play nice at some point; might as well be the one to facilitate that process. So I suggest you get reading; you’ve got a lot of homework to catch up on.” I finished the rest of my champaign and smiled at Pepper; who was doing her best to hold in her amusement - and failing miserably, before heading back to the elevator and exiting the building.

********************************************

In-Line Comments

\- lol did anyone get the Pepper/Piper pun I put in? like peter piper picked a peck etc etc lmao yes i’m lame but it amused me and thats what counts so HA.  
\- Yipppeee it’s finally Avenger time! excited for the next few chapters!   
\- Suggestions for what powers Lexi should use when fighting Loki for the first time are welcome! Haven’t quite decided yet so hoping it comes to me, thinking she shld have something lightning/fire related since I know I want Zeus to be her dad but haven’t decided which of the other gods/goddesses she’ll be related to/get her powers from but yeah.   
\- also if anyone has any general suggestions of things they might want to see let me know and i’ll try to incorporate them!


	27. Meeting the Team

Lexi's POV

"We're about forty minutes out from base, ma'am," the Quinjet Pilot informed me. Ugh, as if Steve calling me ma'am wasn't bad enough...

I got up from my seat and walked over to Steve.

"So, this Doctor Banner was trying to replicate the serum that was used on me?" Steve asked me as I approached. 

"A lot of people were. You were the world's first superhero. Banner thought gamma radiation might hold the key to unlocking Erskine's original formula," I told him.

"Didn't really go his way, did it?"

"Not so much. When he's not the Hulk though, guy's like a Stephen Hawking," I said, trying to defend the poor man.

Steve stared at me, confused.

"He's a smart guy," I explained trying to be as plain about it as I could. "I gotta, say, I have a friend who talks about you all the time. Has some sort of cards he keeps talking about getting you to sign for him. Think he's got a bit of a man-crush on you," I rambled. Steve stared at me blankly. "It's...nevermind," I said not wanting to try and explain the term.

"Well, I hope I'm the man for the job."

"Same here...I mean, not you, me. I hope I'm up to it as well," I commented.

"I'm sure you will be, Lexi. Can I ask you a personal question, though?"

"Of course," I replied.

"There's a file on every team member but you, why is that?" 

"That's classified," I said, inwardly cursing myself for using the cliched response but also feeling a bit smug for finally getting a chance to use it. "It's nothing against you...it's just...very long and complicated and boring, all you really need to know is that I work for Shield and have powers that might come in handy," I added, feeling bad when I saw the look on Steve's face when I didn't answer him.

"Oh, Uh...I think someone said something about making some modifications to your uniform," I said as I remembered that tidbit of information in my attempt to change the subject.

"The uniform? Aren't the stars and stripes a little...old fashioned?"

"With everything that's happening, the things that are about to come to light, people might just need a little old fashioned. Besides, have you seen some of the things people wear these days?" I couldn't help thinking back to when I had first met Tony, Steve, Natasha, and Clint; I had become more accustomed to the suits; but they still took some getting used to.

The Quinjet finally landed on the Hellicarrier and I walked down the ramp with Steve, noticing Natasha standing not too far away. Shit, if anyone is going to realize it's me, it's Natasha...

"You must be Lexi," she greeted me. I nodded as Steve and Natasha greeted each other.

Natasha then lead us towards the railing of the ship where I noticed a nervous looking man that must be Bruce Banner; going by the picture I had seen in his file.

"Dr. Banner," Steve said as he strode over to the man and shook his hand.

"Oh, yeah. Hi. They told me you'd be coming," Bruce replied hesitantly.

"Word is you can find the cube," said Steve.

"Is that the only word on me?" Bruce asked. 

"Only word I care about," Steve stated. 

I saw Bruce glancing over at me and figured it was my turn to introduce myself. 

"I can't believe I'm finally meeting you, I have so many questions!" I blurted out before I could stop myself. "Whoops, sorry, I'm Lexi; Agent Alexa, but just call me Lexi. I'm a huge fan; of your work I mean not the Big Guy - not that he isn't equally fascinating! Um, wow, I'm rambling," I closed my mouth as I bit my lip and tried to remember that Lexi was not supposed to be as socially awkward as I was acting right now. I'd been doing so well so far, what had changed all of a sudden? I mean, yeah, I was a fan of Dr. Banner, but not to the point of being incapable of normal speech!

"I'll answer any question you ask of me, dear," he replied after a long pause. I frowned as I reached back to scratch one of my scars; wishing that my glamour could block the irritations they tended to cause me. 

"I'd love to take you up on that, but maybe now isn't the best time," I replied, stepping back as I noticed how intensely Bruce was staring at me. It was making me nervous. Before anyone could say anything else, Natasha spoke up.

"You may wanna step inside in a minute. It's gonna get a little hard to breath."

Suddenly the Hellicarrier started shaking as the engines came to life.

"Is this is a submarine?" Steve inquired.

"Really? They wanted me in a submerged pressurized metal container?" I glanced over at Bruce. It was clear he didn't trust himself which I could totally relate to.

I grinned as I watched the expression of awe on Steve's face as we started to lift off up into the air.

"Oh no, this is much worse," Bruce said. 

As we made our way inside, I held my hand out palm up towards Steve, my brows raised as I smiled cheekily at him.

He rolled his eyes but placed a $10 bill in my hand all the same. I was still grinning like a fox as I tucked it into my back pocket. Maybe I should get him to sign it for Coulson - would make a much better gift than a bunch of cards. 

I grabbed a pen and asked him to do just that. He looked at me bewildered but all the same, signed the bill with a flourish and I tucked it back in my pocket with a smile; hoping Coulson would like my present to him.

"Gentlemen, Lexi," Fury greeted us as we approached him. "Doctor, thank you for coming," he added as he shook Bruce's hand.

"Thanks for asking nicely. So, uh... how long am I staying?" My thoughts exactly.

"Once we get our hands on the Tesseract, you're in the clear," Fury answered. Wish the same applied to me...

"Where are you with that?" asked Bruce. I looked up to see Fury turning to face me with a pointed look. Shit, I thought, panicking. I forgot that I was expected to play the roll of Coulson in all of this. 

Coulson! What do I say! Bruce wants to know where we are on locating the Tesseract! I sent a mental cry for help; having updated Coulson on that ability before leaving to hop on the Quinjet with Steve.

"We're sweeping every wirelessly accessible camera on the planet. Cellphones, laptops. If it's connected to a satellite, it's eyes and ears for us," I replied, repeating the information Coulson was relaying to me.

"That's still not gonna find them in time," Natasha pointed out.

"You have to narrow the field. How many spectrometers do you have access to?" Bruce asked; still glancing at me every so often. 

“How many are there?” Fury asked.

“Call every lab you know, tell them to put the spectrometers on the roof and calibrate them for gamma rays. I'll rough out a tracking algorithm based on cluster recognition. At least we could rule out a few places. Do you have somewhere for me to work?”

“Agent Romanoff, would you show Dr.Banner to his laboratory, please.”

Natasha nodded and walked off, leading Banner down the hall.

“You're gonna love it, Doc. We got all the toys,” I heard her tell him with my enhanced hearing.

********************************************

“What’s wrong with my outfit?” I said stubbornly half an hour later. Natasha had rejoined the rest of us; requesting that I go with her so she could help me pick out something better. 

“Yeah, I don’t see anything wrong with it,” Steve commented with a blush. I looked down and smiled, trying to hide the fact that I was blushing now too.

Before anyone could say or do anything else, Natasha had grabbed my arm and was dragging me off towards her bunk. She riffled through her duffle bag, pulling out clothes one by one until she finally seemed to make up her mind and shoved some clothes into my hands and told me to change. 

She stood there with folded arms as I blinked up at her. Is she not going to leave?! I started to panic slightly, my natural instincts telling me to get the hell out of the room. I paused and straightened my back; reminding myself that Lexi didn’t have scars to be embarrassed about and that if I didn’t want Natasha to get suspicious, then it was necessary. I swallowed the lump in my throat as I bent down and took off my boots so I could slide my pants down. 

I felt her watching me the entire time as I lifted my arms and pulled my top off. My body heated up as my scars started to burn and I did my best not to scratch them since they didn’t “exist” at the moment. 

I finished getting dressed as quickly as possible and turned towards the tiny mirror that hung on the wall. My eyes widened in surprise. 

 

“Natasha!” I squealed as I stared at myself and resisted the urge to cover myself up. The outfit showed off far too much skin. If it wasn’t for my glamour, almost all of my scars would have been on display...

Natasha just looked at me with a smirk and I was suddenly being dragged back down the hall once more and back to where the others were hanging out as they waited for Loki’s location from the satellite facial recognition. 

“Natasha!” I pulled back on her arm as we neared the others, my nerves getting the better of me.

“I can’t let anyone see me like this! I look ridiculous!” I exclaimed. 

“Oh, please, you look hot, embrace it!” Natasha retorted as she yanked me out into the open.

“Damn!” I heard Tony say as he whistled and stalked over to me. I raised my arms up and crossed them over my chest, trying to cover up as much as possible. 

“Hey, now! Don’t be shy, gorgeous, I think you look sinfully delicious,” Tony said as he stepped even closer and pulled my arms away and spun me around for everyone to see. I shivered as my face turned even redder as my scars continued to burn. I glanced over at Steve who was blushing as well; but staring all the same. 

“We got a hit. Sixty-seven percent match. Weight, cross match, seventy-nine percent.” I looked over towards the door, happy for a distraction. I hid a grin as I recognized the agent as the one Jemma had stunned with her night-night gun when we were at the Hub. 

“Location?” I asked.

“Stuttgart, Germany. 28, Konigstrasse. He's not exactly hiding.”

“Captain, Lexi, you two are up,” Fury said as he strode into the room.

Steve nodded as he turned his gaze away from me and left the room. I shifted on my feet as I turned to follow; grateful for the excuse to gear up and get away from the spotlight of Tony’s stare.

********************************************

In-Line Comments

\- Hope you enjoyed this latest chapter!   
\- Just to make it clear, her soulmates aren’t tryna “cheat” on her or anything since they’ve met their soulmate now and wouldn’t do that its just ya know it’s still her so they still feel overwhelmingly attracted to her but can’t tell why so they are extra confused/guilty about that and fighting against it.   
\- Haven’t decided if Loki/Thor are going to make it known to everyone that she’s their soulmate or if they’ll keep it to themselves until the battle is over/and or when lucifer shows up and then if i make her stay Lexi until she meets peter then it’ll give me more time to write in scenes and stuff before everyone realizes that their soulmate is the same and everything lol let me know if anyone has any preference! I usually just go with whatever seems appropriate as i get to actually writing the scenes themselves


	28. Loki

Lexi’s POV

“Look to your elder, people. Let him be an example,” I heard Loki saying as I quietly snuck up behind him as Steve dove in front of the old man who was about to be executed.

I smirked as I watched Loki get knocked on his ass, but flinched as my scars started to itch again.

“You know, the last time I was in Germany and saw a man standing above everybody else, we ended up disagreeing,” Steve commented coldly.

“The soldier. A man out of time. And I see you brought a lady friend, how cute. It’s a shame I will have to kill the both of you. 

I frowned, surprised that Loki had managed to sense me despite the fact that I had used my powers to hide myself from view.

“I'm not the one who's out of time,” Steve retorted as he clenched his hands into fists.

Just then, the Quinjet arrived and a machine gun was pointed towards Loki.

“Loki, drop the weapon and stand down,” I heard Natasha say over the speaker. 

Like greased lighting, Loki sent a blast of blue at the Quinjet. Natasha maneuvered it just in time, giving the Cap the time to throw his shield at Loki. They both begain to fight and I watched on in fear as Loki flung Steve to the ground. 

Steve responded by throwing his shield, but Loki swatted it way and easily blocked Steve’s punches, knocking him down a second time. I crept forward as Loki moved to stand over him, pointing the scepter's tip on his helmet.

“Kneel.”

“Not today!” Steve replied, flipping up and knocking Loki down with a swing of his leg.

Loki grabbed him and turned him over. I decided now was the time to step in. 

I uncloaked myself and used my super speed to dart forward and pull Loki off of Steve and sent him flying into the wall behind me. 

I glared at Loki as he slowly got to his feet, staring at me. We met each other’s gaze and I glared at Loki as I felt him trying to invade my mind. 

“Fascinating. You are not of this world; no human can resist me.” 

“Don’t flatter yourself, Loki. You are not as powerful as you think,” I replied, as my scars continued to burn. I frowned at his comment about being not of this world, but chose to ignore it since the dude was clearly delusional.

Loki stared at me in shock but quickly switched to a smirk as I continued to glare at him.

“It is a pleasure to finally meet you, my lady,” he said.

“Well I can’t say the feeling is mutual,” I retorted. Loki brushed off my comment; continuing to grin at me. I forced myself to stand still as I watched his eyes rake me up and down as my scars continued to irritate me.

“I have to say, I am loving the outfit,” he commented, his voice filled with lust and a hungry gleam in his eyes. I shifted, silently cursing Natasha for her choice of clothing.

“And you look like a pathetic attempt at impersonating a reindeer,” I spat back. 

Loki just chuckled as he leaned on his scepter.

“This world will soon be mine, as will you.”

“The people of this world will never bend to your will, Loki - and I will never be yours,” I said, fake gagging. 

“Oh, really? Some of them already have,” he replied as he glanced over at Clint, who I suddenly realized was in the room as well. “And you will feel differently when I have you on your back screaming my name,” he added, smirking as he saw the way my body trembled at his words. 

What the hell is wrong with me? He is evil, not attractive! I mentally berated myself. 

Loki lifted his scepter up and laid the tip gently on my forehead. I clenched my jaw and closed my eyes as a blue light washed over me; worried that I would end up under his control like Clint had. But thankfully his scepter seemed to have no effect on me. 

“Oh, well, I will just have to find another way,” Loki said, lowering the staff back to the ground. He flicked his eyes behind me and I bit my lip to stop myself from crying out in pain as Clint appeared behind me and stabbed me in the back. 

I spun around and kicked outward; sending Hawkeye flying across the room as Steve launched himself at Loki. 

I sped over to Clint, staggering slightly from the pain. I was reluctant to fight him though, not wanting to hurt him when he wasn’t in control of his actions. I dodged his attacks, but held off on making any of my own.

I looked up at the sky as AC/DC's "Shoot to Thrill" blasted from the Quinjet’s speakers. I watched as Iron Man swooped in and blasted Loki; touching back to the ground and pulling out every piece of weaponry at his disposal. 

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Clint disappearing into the shadows. 

“Make your move, Reindeer Games,” Tony said.

Loki put up his hands in surrender as his armor materialized away.

“Good move,” Tony stated.

“Mr. Stark,” Steve said with a nod at Iron Man.

“Captain,” he responded.

I stayed silent, gritting my teeth as I felt the stinging in my back as the stab wound started to heal.

********************************************

I sat across from a tied up and cuffed Loki in the Quinjet, squirming uncomfortably in my seat as he continued to stare at me with burning intensity.

“Why do you keep looking at me? There are plenty of other people around to stare at!” I grumbled.

“None as fascinating; or as beautiful as you, my dear,” he said with a wink. I rolled my eyes.

“What is so fascinating about me? I’m no one,” I replied. Loki frowned.

“Do you not know who you are? The tremendous power that resides within you? Join me and we could rule over this world together!” 

“My powers are nothing but a curse...now shut up, sit still, and stop staring at me!” I ordered through clenched teeth.

“As you command, my lady,” he whispered with another wink. I rolled my eyes again and looked away.

Tony and Steve were watching from a distance, whispering softy but their voices were easily audible to my sensitive ears.

“I don't like it,” Steve was saying.

“What? Rock of Ages giving up so easily?”

“I don't remember it being ever that easy. This guy packs a wallop,” Steve pointed out.

“Still, you are pretty spry, for an older fellow. What's your thing? Pilates?” I frowned, doubting that Steve even knew what that was and getting the sense that Tony was teasing him.

“What?” Steve asked with a blank look on his face, confirming my suspicions.

“It's like calisthenics. You might have missed a couple things, you know, doing time as a Capsicle.” I glared at Tony, as did Steve.

“Fury didn't tell me he was calling you in.”

“Yeah, there's a lot of things Fury doesn't tell you.”

I stood up, about to walk over and smack some sense into Tony, when thunder and lightning nearly hit the jet, making it shake violently. I lost my balance and fell forward, cursing my luck as I just so happened to land in Loki’s lap. 

“Hey, there, kitten,” he purred softly into my ear. I flung myself back to my feet; ignoring the goosebumps that he had caused and the grin he sent my way.

“Where's this coming from?” Natasha asked as thunder continued to rumble.

“What's the matter? Scared of a little lightning?” Steve quipped as we watched Loki staring at the window.

“I'm not overly fond of what follows.”

What the fuck? I thought as a blinding light hit the jet and the ramp was pulled open as an unknown man reached in, grabbed Loki by the throat, and flew out. That must be Thor, I realized as we all stared at one another dumbstruck.

Tony put his Iron Man helmet on as I crossed to the ramp and jumped out, ignoring the cries of surprise from the team. 

I used my enhanced sight to locate Thor and Loki, tucking my limbs in to speed myself up and landed in front of them with a heavy thud.

********************************************

In-Line Comments

\- So I added Clint into the scene cuz I wanted him to have a fight scene with Lexi while under Loki’s control and it made more sense to have it happen now since she will be with Loki when he attacks and gets his mind back.  
\- As always, feel free to share any feedback/suggestions!


	29. Thor

Lexi's POV

"Where is the Tesseract?" Thor was demanding to know as he raised his hammer into the air.

"I missed you too," Loki replied, laughing. Neither of them seemed to notice me.

"Do I look to be in a gaming mood?!" 

"Oh, you should thank me. With the Bifrost gone how much dark energy did the Allfather have to muster to conjure you here? Your precious Earth."

I watched in silence as Thor dropped Mjölnir, causing the mountain to quake. 

"I thought you dead," Thor said as he lifted his brother up.

"Did you mourn?" It wasn't hard to miss the sarcasm that filled Loki's voice.

"We all did. Our father..."

"Your father. He did tell you my true parentage, did he not?" Loki corrected. Wait, they aren't actually related? 

"We were raised together, we played together, we fought together. Do you remember none of that?" Thor asked, letting his brother go.

"I remember a shadow. Living in the shade of your greatness. I remember you tossing me into an abyss. I was and should be king!"

"So you take the world I love as recompense for your imagined slights? No, the Earth is under my protection, Loki." 

My head whipped back and forth between the two of them as they argued back and forth like teenagers. At one point, Thor lowered his hammer to the ground; releasing it from his hand as he tried to get Loki to see reason, and I saw my opportunity.

"Oi! Break it up you two! You're supposed to be gods - yet here you are squabbling like little children!" I shouted loudly as I darted forward and lifted Mjölnir into the air and swung it threateningly over to rest on my shoulder as I settled my free hand on my hip. 

Both of them turned to stare at me in shock. 

"You touched my hammer?!" Thor boomed out, surprised and confused. I looked over to see Loki grinning, and guessed that he was thinking Tonyish thoughts regarding the way Thor had chosen to phrase his words.

"Possessive much? So what if I did? It's just an obscenely large construction tool, not like it weighs much. Learn to share, Thor. Sharing is caring," I said as I switched hands and settled the hammer on my opposite shoulder; silently patting myself on the back for coming up with such a good rhyme. They should really start teaching kids that while they are young!

"You, it's...you're...you?!" Thor sputtered staring at me wide-eyed. For someone who claims to be a god, he doesn't seem very good with using his words...

"Well, yes, I am me, thanks for pointing that out Thor. That's a very insightful observation, really clears things up," I commented; ignoring Loki as he choked with laughter. 

"Apologies, my lady, I am just so thrilled to finally meet you, if you don't mind waiting while I deal with my brother, I should love to speak further with you; but not here!" He turned to face Loki once more. "Give up the Tesseract! Give up this poisonous dream! Come home," he pleaded.

"I don't have it. You need the cube to bring me home, but I've sent it off I know not where," Loki replied with a shrug.

Mjölnir was suddenly ripped from my hands as it flew back into Thor's grasp. 

"You listen well, brother. I..." before he could finish his sentence, he was knocked off the mountain by Iron Man, who tackled him in mid-flight.

"I'm listening," Loki called down to him jokingly. I rolled my eyes as I strode over to him.

"Don't even think about trying to escape!" I warned him.

"From you? I would not dare, little spitfire. I enjoy the view and the company far too much to contemplate such an act." He winked at me again as he stepped forward and stroked my cheek. Shivers went up and down my body as he did so; a fact that did not go unnoticed by him, judging from the look he was giving me.

I opened my mouth, but couldn't come up with any words. My scars itched as I glared at him; cursing over and over again for finding myself strangely so attracted to the man before me. It didn't make any sense. 

"Shall we watch my brother and your man of iron fight? Maybe they will save me the trouble of having to kill them," Loki said, turning me around to face the edge of the mountain; where we could see Thor and Iron Man fighting each other below. 

I shuddered as I felt Loki's chest press smoothly against my back as he traced a finger along the side of my arm.

"You really hate your brother so much that you would kill him?" I asked, though why I was shocked I have no clue. He was a villain after all. But something about him just seemed so lost and misunderstood. As if - in another life he could have turned out good. 

"Yes. If not out of revenge for what he and the rest of my "family" put me through, than for you," Loki answered.

I turned around, noticing how his hand somehow managed to maintain contact with my skin. 

"What do you mean, "for me," that doesn't make any sense," I said, confused.

"I do not want to have to share you with my brother. It was foretold by the fates that we would, but my brother has taken enough from me in this life. He does not deserve you." 

What the hell is this horned albino talking about! 

"You really are just a bag full of crazy, aren't you? Nothing you say makes any sense!" I said as Loki leaned forward.

"Don't worry my little spitfire, it shall all make sense one day," Loki said softly, getting even closer.

"Stop calling me that!" I growled.

"Why? An accurate description is it not? Besides, I can sense how much you enjoy it when I do - there is no use pretending with me. You cannot hide anything from me, little spitfire," he whispered in my ear. I shuddered as I gazed into his eyes. They were the deepest sea green I had ever seen and as I stared, they seemed almost to swirl; drawing me further into their depths.

I was about to deny his statement, but just as I opened my mouth to do so, Loki pulled me to him and I blinked in surprise as I found his lips on mine. 

Fire filled my body as I tried and failed to resist the urge to kiss back. What is wrong with you, Lexi! You are making out with a monster while Tony and Thor are fighting each other! - Then again, I'm a monster too...maybe we could be monsters together...No, no, no, no. You are not evil! You are good. I went back and forth trying to convince myself until I finally managed to pull myself out of Loki's grasp, gasping slightly as I touched my swollen lips; still unsure of what to make of this new development. 

"Stop it, Loki, your tricks won't work on me!" I said shakily. 

"We shall see, my dear. We shall see." He smirked at me as I bit my lip and fought the urge to lean forward and continue what he had started. Get a hold of yourself, Lexi!

I turned around and glanced down; looking for something to distract me. 

Shit. Steve had joined the fray and now both he and Tony were fighting Thor. Men. I huffed as I rolled my eyes.

"Hey! That's enough!" I shouted as I leapt off of the mountain side and landed in the middle of their argument; stretching my arms out and sending three large tree branches to fly out and push them back in opposite directions. 

Once they had finally gotten back to their feet, I stared them all down.

"Are we done here?" I demanded to know. The looked at one another and slowly nodded.

********************************************

"Did my brother hurt you, my lady?" Thor asked as he joined Steve, Tony, and I as we stood watching as Shield agents walked forward to subdue Loki.

I blushed as I subconsciously raised my hand back to my lips, thinking back to what had transpired between myself and Loki on the mountain; my body heating up from the memory as well as my scars; which were flaring again.

I meet Loki's eyes as one of the agents handcuffed him - he didn't seem to notice the agent, sending me a wink instead, almost as if he knew what I was thinking about.

"Um, n-no, he didn't hurt me, and you can call me Alexa; or Lexi, Thor. None of this "my lady" nonsense," I said as I watched Loki lift his now shackled hands to his mouth and blow a kiss at me. I spun around, blushing madly; hoping that the others hadn't noticed anything. 

Unfortunately, they had. 

"Well I'll be damned. Reindeer Games ain't as bad a player as I thought," Tony said as he smirked at me. I could almost feel it as Thor and Steve tensed up on either side of me at Tony's words.

"It-it's not what you think! Get your mind out of the gutter, Tony. Geeze, not everyone goes around kissing strangers like you do!" I retorted. 

"Mmhm," Tony said, clearly seeing right through my lie. "Can't say I blame the guy..." Tony continued, stepping closer to me and reaching a hand up.

"I'd give away one of my beach houses to get a taste of those delicious looking lips of yours," he added, running a finger across my bottom lip. 

Fuck. 

"I can't be bought, Tony." I said, ignoring the heat that filled my belly and was making my legs weak as I stepped back, only to find myself stumbling into a body.

"Does the man of iron offend you, Lady Alexa? Shall I get rid of him for you?" Thor suggested as he lifted a fist with one hand, and wrapped his other around me as if to protect me.

"What, no! There's no need for that. I think the three of you have done enough fighting for today, don't you? And it's Alexa - just Alexa - or Lexi, Thor. I told you, No "lady"."

"Lady Lexi, I do not understand," Thor replied, looking bewildered and confused. I threw my hands up in the air in frustration.

"I give up! Steve won't stop calling me ma'am, Tony can't say anything non sexual, and now Thor?! Gah, you people are impossible to be around!" I exclaimed, spinning around as I pulled myself out of Thor's embrace; immediately missing the warmth of his body. 

"Well aren't you just adorable when you get upset! I didn't think you could get any cuter," Tony commented as Steve punched him in the arm. 

"How much longer does Fury expect me to keep my sanity while having to put up with this!" I shouted as I tossed my arms up in the air again and glared at the three men before turning around and stomping off towards the Quinjet; ignoring the sound of Tony's laughter.

I couldn't help but look back, however, when I had reached the top of the ramp; to see Thor still looking confused, and Steve arguing with Tony. They were too far away for me to hear, and I was not in the mood, so I turned back around and stormed off.

********************************************

In-Line Comments

\- So to explain; Steve is arguing with Tony basically yelling at him to stop flirting with Lexi when they have Skye; their soulmate to think about and then Thor chimes in all excited to hear that Tony and Steve share a soulmate, since he thought he and his brother were the only ones to share one. (Poor guys, they have no idea how much worse it really is hahaha) 

\- Hope you liked this latest chapter! Gonna try to aim for three or four chapters complete tonight since i'm already at two and feeling inspired; so stay tuned! I'll also be posting as much as I can these next few days but just a heads up I'm driving up to Oregon in the morning/for the weekend so they might be a bit sporadic until I get back!


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